


Facing Demons

by xvav (lieutenantaclassi)



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Romance, Spoilers: V3E11, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-20 01:47:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5987947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lieutenantaclassi/pseuds/xvav
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Qrow's life is slowly but surely crumbling around him, and even though he's trying his damned hardest to keep it together he's starting to realize that it isn't so easy to do it when you're on your own with your demons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first RWBY fic, I've been thinking of publishing some Ironqrow for a while now, and I decided to FINALLY take the step and publish! It will contain a pretty great deal of angst at several points, because I live and breathe that shit, but I can promise you it won't be a sad and angsty ending, because I cannot take such things. Hope you'll enjoy! i

_“They’re gone, Qrow, they’re never coming back.”_

Qrow was awakened by his own loud gasp, he sat up in his bed and looked around the dark room for something that wasn’t there. No matter how many times he had the same nightmare it still scared the living daylights out of him. You’d think that after so many repeats of the same damned dream, his brain would _know_ that it wasn’t real. That everything was fine.

With a sigh he put his feet down on the cold floor and took a deep shaky breath. His heart was still beating way too fast. One day he’d have a damned heart attack thanks to his nightmares.

“Get it together,” he muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes.

The best thing would probably have been to go back to sleep but instead he stumbled up from the bed and quietly walked out of his room and squinted as he got out into the hallway which always was dimly lit. Even if it wasn’t very bright it was still bright enough to make him want to shut his eyes, but instead he just kept squinting as he moved along the hallway.

Qrow came to a stop by the one door that was left slightly ajar, allowing a bit of the light from the hallway to shine into the room. Very carefully he pushed the door open and glanced inside. He could feel his pounding heart stabilize a bit as he saw his youngest niece, Ruby, curled up in her bed with Zwei, the family dog, at her feet. The dog curiously looked up at him but made no sounds, aware of Ruby being asleep.

Of course she was fine. It had just been a dream.

Even though he tried to convince himself that he was being silly, it didn’t stop him from stepping back and heading over to the door across from Ruby’s. It was shut but he very carefully pushed the handle down and poked his head inside the room. He couldn’t help smiling to himself as he heard snoring and saw an arm and a leg hanging over the side of the bed. Yang was certainly not the most gracious sleeper.

He sighed in relief and put his head against the door frame. Both of them were alright. Nothing had happened, and nothing would happen.

One day he hoped that he’d be able to sleep through an entire night without waking up in fear of losing them, but it was so damned hard shaking that feeling off. He didn’t let it show most of the time, and he tried his best to not be overprotective because he knew that both of them could handle themselves. Yet there was always that nagging feeling in the back of his head, and the voice from the dream.

“Uncle Qrow…?” Yang’s sleepy voice pulled Qrow out of his deep thoughts.

“Hey, go back to sleep,” he softly said while mentally cursing at himself for waking her up, “It is still night.”

“You alright?” she slurred as she tried to lift her head up, he couldn’t help chuckling quietly. He doubted she'd remember the interaction when morning came around, she was more asleep than awake.

“Just thought I heard something weird while heading to the bathroom. Turns out it was just your loud snoring,” he teasingly said which earned him a middle finger from Yang before she collapsed back onto her pillows, he just snorted as he quietly shut the door again and allowed her to (hopefully) fall back asleep.

Going back to sleep? Probably something he should have done, too. He walked back to his room and fell into his bed again, staring at the clock which read 03:09 AM. He had at least four more hours to sleep, but even though he had calmed down significantly he just couldn’t shake off the bad feeling he was left with from the dream.

Normally he’d eventually fall asleep again, but this time he had kept twisting and turning until early morning, not falling into a light slumber until 6 or so. And around 7 he was ripped out of his sleep by the sound of the fire alarm going off in the kitchen followed by Yang and Ruby yelling at each other.

Just another normal morning in the Branwen-Xiao Long-Rose household.

Qrow entered the kitchen feeling more dead than alive and he ignored Yang balancing on a chair trying to turn off the fire alarm, and Ruby loudly complaining about the toaster not working. Instead he sat down at his usual spot and grabbed the cup of coffee that Yang had prepared for him (at least he hoped it was her, last time Ruby prepared his coffee he had thought that his teeth would rot from the amount of sugar).

“If we just got a new toaster this wouldn’t happen!” Ruby complained as Yang kept struggling with the fire alarm, “This always happens!”

“Maybe you just need to keep a closer look on your toast,” Qrow muttered as he grabbed the newspaper on the table, “It has been trustworthy for years.”

“It almost set my bread on fire last week!” Ruby complained as she held up her piece of toast in front of Qrow’s face, it was absolutely scorched, “Look at it!”

“Maybe it wouldn’t happen if _you_ didn’t turn up the power on it to make it finish faster!” Yang exclaimed and cursed at the fire alarm which refused to turn off despite her pressing the reset button, “Ugh!”

“Need a hand?”

“No, I’ve got two very capable hands already!” she insisted as she stood on the tip of her toes, “The stupid alarm is just refusing to turn off! Ruby, can you open another window?”

“On it, sis!”

Filtering out the fire alarm would probably have been a pain for most people but when you lived with Ruby and Yang it was pretty much a standard. A fire alarm was mostly a sign of everything being normal at their place, he’d be surprised if he didn’t hear it go off at least once or twice each week.

The morning chaos was a part of his routine. He’d sit by the table with the girls for half an hour or so, drinking his coffee while they’d try to make breakfast without burning the kitchen down, then they’d sit down and talk about school and their plans for their days. Normally Qrow would just grunt if he was addressed since the coffee needed to kick in before he could bring himself to be social, and it usually kicked in about the time when they’d leave for school.

Then he’d be left on his own in a much too silent home. He was currently working part time as a teacher because his old friend Ozpin had pestered him about it for months, but he still had his side-job left, which was free-lancing as a kind of investigator. He had to admit that he was quite good at digging up dirt on people, but he hated dealing with customers. But he needed both jobs if he wanted to be able to make ends meet for him and the girls.

Qrow was working on an investigation this day, or he _tried_ , it seemed that the nightmare had left him in a bit of a daze, making it hard for him to concentrate. Eventually he fell into a restless sleep on the couch since he hardly had slept during night. The investigation could definitely wait.

Around lunch his phone went off, and he had a feeling that it was Ozpin who wanted him to come in for work again. The man had a way of always calling him last minute for things. But as he looked at the screen he realized that it was from Yang’s school. It was certainly not the first time they called him either. With a sigh he accepted the call, preparing for getting told that there had been another fight.

_“Is this Mr. Branwen I’m talking to?”_

“Yeah, how come?” he murmured as he sat up properly in the couch.

_“I’m calling about your niece, Miss Yang Xiao Long, I’m afraid there has been an incident.”_

To be honest, he wasn’t surprised. Yang didn’t take any crap, which was something Qrow was _very_ happy about, but last time it had nearly gotten her expelled since she almost had broken another student’s leg. In her defense, he had been the one going for her first, but a few eyewitnesses had claimed that _she_ had attacked him in blind rage. Thanks to the lack of proof she had been let off of the hook that time.

But if she had gotten into one of those incidents again she was probably going to be expelled for real.

“Let me guess, another fight?” he asked, pulling a hand through his hair to get the bangs out of his face, “Do I have to come in?”

_“There’s no easy way to put this, but Miss Xiao Long is currently being rushed to the hospital.“_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it seemed a bit rushed. I've actually written a lot of the later chapters but I've had some issues coming up with a good start. Next chapter will introduce James and his part in the story! Not entirely sure when it will be up because I'm going to be away most of the day tomorrow, but we'll see!  
> (Also, Yang might have wanted to take Qrow up on that offer.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had planned to finish this much earlier but I've had to process the V3 season finale (I'm still not done to be honest), but now I'm finally done with chapter 2, and James is pulled into the story. Enjoy!

Qrow wasn’t sure exactly how he got from the couch in his apartment to the hospital lobby. He hardly remembered what the person from the school had said, because he had tuned out everything after hearing her say that Yang was being rushed to the hospital.

Somehow he had gotten out to his car, and he had most likely been driving way over the speed limit to reach his destination. He was pretty sure he even had parked illegally. But now he was stuck at the reception desk trying to convince the poor receptionist to let him see Yang.

 “I’m sorry, but she’s in _surgery_ , she lost a lot of blood, and they need to try and attach her arm again –“

 “ _What_?” Qrow’s eyes widened and he dug his nails into the wooden desk, “What did you just say? Why would they need to… what the hell are you saying? What happened?!” 

“Miss Xiao Long lost an arm,” the receptionist glanced around nervously as if she was looking for someone to help her, “H-haven’t you been informed about this?”

Qrow’s initial reaction was to snap at the poor woman, but _maybe_ he had been informed. Maybe the person calling him from Yang’s school had told him about it without him really listening, or he had hung up before she had had the chance to tell him the details about the situation. All Qrow wanted was to know if Yang was alright, but so far it was pretty obvious that she wasn’t. 

“Damn it, I _need_ to see her!” Qrow gritted his teeth and slammed a hand into the desk, making the receptionist jump.

“Please calm down,” she weakly said, “You cannot see her while she’s in surgery, there’s no way I can make that happen, I’m terribly sorry!”

“Goddamnit, I’m her guardian, I should –“

“Excuse me, may I interrupt?”

Qrow twitched. He knew that voice miles away after being called to Yang’s school way too many times over trivial things. He turned his head and came face to face with the headmaster of Yang’s school, James Ironwood. It was pretty much one of the last persons Qrow wanted to deal with at the moment considering that they didn’t get along well at all.

“You may not,” Qrow snapped, “But since when do you listen, Ironwood?”

“Care for a walk?”

Of course James chose to ignore him, Qrow wasn’t surprised in the least but it didn't fail to piss him off.

“My niece has been fucking dismembered, and you think I want to go on a walk? With _you_?”

James sighed, shook his head briefly and grabbed Qrow’s arm to pull him away from the receptionist who was starting to look really stressed out. It was for the best to remove Qrow from her before he ended up saying something that would cause her even more distress. It wasn’t as if she could help them anyway.

“Let’s talk. You _know_ that you cannot rush into an operation room, Mr. Branwen. I can’t help you see Miss Xiao Long any sooner but I can perhaps enlighten you about the situation,” James calmly said.

He was still holding on to Qrow’s arm as he started heading towards the exit, but Qrow pulled out of James’s grip and glared at him spitefully. James almost expected him to start hissing or hit him, but instead he angrily shoved his hands into his pockets and followed. 

As they got out they walked around the hospital grounds, coming to a stop by a wooden bench which James sat down on. Qrow crossed his arms and also sat down but as far away from James as he could. You'd have thought that James had the plague.

“So, spit it out, what the hell happened?”

James looked over at Qrow with a grim look on his face, “Miss Xiao Long was trying to defend a fellow student, Miss Belladonna, if you know who that is –“

“Yeah, Blake,” Qrow frowned, the girl had been over several times and Yang talked about her quite a lot, “She’s hurt too?”

“Unfortunately,” James stiffly said, “A man came for Miss Belladonna, I don’t know the details of what affiliation they have with each other, and there were hardly any witnesses around… but from what I’ve been told, he beat down and stabbed Miss Belladonna. Your niece saw it, causing her to run headfirst into danger to save her friend.”

“And that’s when she lost her arm?”

“Yes,” James looked at Qrow who was sitting bent over with his hands covering his face, “Unfortunately the arm wasn’t transported to the hospital at the same time as Miss Xiao Long. It was put on ice and taken there later. Miss Belladonna was the one who got the two of them to safety, understandably grabbing the arm wasn’t a priority at that point since they could have been killed. So it is not certain if they’ll be able to reattach the arm.”

It was a lot to take in. It had just been a normal day and then everything had gone to shit. Maybe Qrow’s paranoia over the girls’ safety had been somewhat justified. There was _always_ something in the world that could take away everything you loved and he had experienced it too many times. He wouldn’t be able to keep going if he lost his girls, too.

“How the fuck can this happen at a school?” Qrow exclaimed and got up from the bench, standing in front of James, “How can you allow such a thing to happen? Aren’t schools supposed to be safe for the kids? _You_ are the one who’s always been yapping about how damned secure your school is thanks to your cooperation with Atlas! But when it comes down to it, it's just empty words, isn't it?!”

Qrow’s anger was reasonable, James knew that, and he couldn’t help feeling guilty about what had happened. Two students at his school had almost gotten killed on his watch. And he _had_ made statements about their superior security. Something that undoubtedly would get mentioned in the news the upcoming days. He could already imagine the huge amount of phone calls and emails that he'd receive about the incident.

“You’re right, it shouldn’t be possible,” he admitted and looked down at his gloved hand, clenching his fist, “This was a major security breach and I’m waiting to find out how he got past our security. I swear I’ll make improvements once I have more answers. This should never have been allowed to happen and I’ll do everything in my power to prevent it from ever happening again. You have my word on that.”

“That’s not going to make Yang grown a new arm,” Qrow bitterly said, “Please tell me that the guy didn’t get away? Who the hell was he?”

James visibly tensed up and Qrow immediately knew that the culprit hadn’t been arrested yet.

"So there’s a stab-happy murderous piece of shit still on the loose? Great. Just fucking great.”

“Listen, your niece is going to be alright,” James said, “She has lost an arm, but her life isn’t in immediate danger –“

“Don’t you dare say that,” Qrow accusingly said and took a step towards James, grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him up from the bench, “You don’t know what the hell is going on in there! Sure you can live without an arm, but she must have lost blood, there could be infections, or other complications… so don’t you dare say that she isn’t in any immediate danger, because you can’t make that kind of promise!” 

“I didn’t… of course,” James knew when there was no point in arguing with Qrow, sometimes it was for the best to just let it go, “I apologize, Mr. Branwen.”

Qrow glared at him for a bit more before letting go. He turned around and took a deep breath. It was a very long time ago since he was this on edge.

“I’m going back.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Why are you even here?”

“Two of my students were _attacked_ , of course I’m here. Also, the police were here to ask me some questions. Unfortunately I could not answer many of them, and obviously neither Miss Xiao Long nor Miss Belladonna can be questioned about what happened, for now.”

Qrow lowered his gaze as they walked back towards the hospital doors.

“How’s Blake doing?”

“Unsure. As I said, she got stabbed, but she managed to get Miss Xiao Long and herself out of immediate danger. She’s… she’s strong. They both are.”

Qrow nodded. If there was someone who knew exactly how strong Yang was, it was him. She had always been strong, ever since she was a little kid. Maybe because she hadn’t had much of a choice considering the circumstances of their past. He just hoped that she was strong enough to pull through this time as well.

Once they entered the hospital lobby again Qrow could see the receptionist tense up, probably prepared to get yelled at again. He managed to feel a tiny bit guilty about it, but not enough to apologize. 

“Is there any possibly way for us to find out about Miss Xiao Long’s status?”

“I’m sorry, there’s really not much I can do,” the receptionist apologetically told James, “I can let you know if anything changes and when you can see her.”

“Thank you, we appreciate it,” James said and even offered a small smile towards the receptionist, it visibly made her relax, “We’ll be waiting around here.”

Qrow just grunted as he once more ended up following James. There wasn’t much else that he could do at the moment anyway. But the moment he was about to sit down he realized something that made him instantly stop moving.

James noticed as Qrow froze up, “What is it?”

“Shit, Ruby.”

“Excuse me?”

“My other niece. I haven’t told her,” Qrow cursed and started pacing back and forth in front of James, “How the hell do I tell her that her older sister lost a fucking arm? I don’t even know what’s going on in there, I can’t tell her anything because I don’t know anything!”

“Mr. Branwen, please calm down –“ 

“I can’t call her about something like this, I need to go pick her up now –“

“I really don’t think you should be driving right now,” James pointed out with a concerned look on his face, “You’re in shock. You might be a danger to both yourself and everyone else in traffic if you drive now.”

“What the hell do you suggest then?!”

James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, it was a battle to remain calm when Qrow was being so snappy. But he just had to remind himself once more why they were there, and he immediately let go of the urge to say something harsh.

“Listen, I can pick her up,” he tiredly said and brought up his phone, “What school does she attend?”

“Beacon, but –“

“I know Ozpin, the headmaster. I’ll give him a call. He can call her out of class and have her go to his office, and I’ll go get her there. You might want to stay here to know what goes on with Miss Xiao Long.”

It wasn’t the ultimate thing to do, but he really didn’t want Qrow to drive. Beacon Academy wasn’t _that_ far away but considering the state Qrow was in it was for the best if he just stayed put and let someone else do it. And James actually needed to get away for a moment, not only because Qrow had a way to get on his nerves, but also because he needed a moment of silence to think.

The two of them stared at each other for a while. Qrow was certainly not convinced that it was a good idea but in the end his shoulders sagged in defeat. James was right, he did want to be at the hospital in case of something happening with Yang.

“Alright. Fine. You win,” Qrow murmured and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming, “Tell Oz what happened, and… fuck, I don’t know. Tell him not to tell her exactly what happened. She should hear that from me.”

James nodded slowly, “What should I say if she asks? She will most likely get worried.”

“It’s just a ten minute drive, just tell her to wait until you get here.”

“If you say so. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” James silently observed Qrow for a while, “And please do not yell at the receptionist again, she’s just doing her job.”

“Fuck off,” Qrow muttered but it didn’t hold much bite to it, “Just go get her, it’s Ruby Rose. Oz knows her.”

“Ruby Rose,” James repeated with a nod, deciding not to question the fact that none of them shared the same last name, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

With that James walked out of the hospital lobby, leaving Qrow alone to his thoughts. He could almost hear the taunting voice from his nightmares in his mind. 

He took a shaky deep breath and buried his face in his hands. If it only was another nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Qrow. And poor Yang. And Blake.  
> To be honest, not a lot of people are doing too well right now.  
> Anyways, thanks to you guys who have left kudos so far! It's nice to know that someone appreciates it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hadn't planned on finishing this today since I've got about 500 pages to read in a book but it's way more fun to write fanfiction than to actually prepare for my current university course, so here you go!  
> Chapter 3 introduces a couple of more characters who most likely will make appearances again throughout the story.

“Well, there you are, James.”

“Ozpin,” James said as he entered Ozpin’s office, immediately hearing the sound of clocks all around him.

He had no idea how the man hadn’t gone insane by the constant ticking, but it was ages ago that he had given up on understanding the man’s fascination with clocks and time. He had asked, but the explanations Ozpin offered were either absolutely unrelated to the questions or too cryptic for James to understand. Thus it was for the best to simply accept it.

“This is James Ironwood, Yang’s headmaster and a dear friend of mine,” Ozpin said with a small smile on his face as he pushed himself up from his office chair, looking at the girl who was sitting by his desk, “And this is Ruby Rose, James.”

James’s gaze lingered for a while on Ozpin who was leaning quite heavily on his cane. James frowned and knew that it meant it was a bad day even if Ozpin most likely would deny it if confronted. Instead of reading too much into it he looked over at the girl who had turned to look at him with wide eyes. She looked concerned and nervous, and who could blame her?

“Nice to meet you, I wish it was under better circumstances,” he said and smiled politely at the young girl, “Your uncle asked me to pick you up. I think Ozpin might have told you about that part?”

Ozpin nodded as he looked at Ruby, “I did… I’d have liked for us to talk a bit more, but I’m fairly sure that the two of you want to get going as soon as possible.”

“Yeah…” Ruby murmured as she stood up, taking a look at the plate of untouched cookies at the desk. Normally she would have devoured any cookies that Ozpin had offered but since the word hospital had been mentioned she had lost all of her appetite, “I’m Ruby.”

“So I’ve gathered,” James nodded, “Let’s go. Your uncle is waiting and he asked me to take you to him as soon as possible. It’s for the best that he explains what is going on.”

Ruby looked a bit torn as she glanced between James and Ozpin, but upon meeting Ozpin’s glance once more and seeing him smile reassuringly and nod she relaxed a bit and approached James with lowered gaze.

James wasn’t sure if it was because she was shy or if it simply was because of the situation. Perhaps both.

“Please give me a call when you have time, James, there are some things I’d like to discuss,” Ozpin called as the two of them started to leave, “And take care, Ruby. Give your uncle my best.”

James just raised his hand to show that he had acknowledged what Ozpin said.

As they headed into the elevator to get to the ground floor James was surprised at Ruby’s silence. Even if he didn’t know her he had expected some kind of questions.

Maybe it was for the best, because he wouldn’t know what to say anyway.

 

* * *

 

Upon arriving at the hospital Ruby had thrown herself into Qrow’s arms before he even had had time to say anything, and then all the questions started pouring out of her and Qrow simply tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder, murmuring something that James didn’t quite hear.

And it was none of his business anyway so out of respect he decided to head to a couple of chairs further away, giving Qrow and Ruby some privacy.

He wasn’t sure exactly how long he sat there, but he did manage to send an email to his assistant, Winter Schnee, about how to handle the situation while he was away from school. Obviously it had closed for the day and all students were allowed to go home, but they had also had to take in people who could be there to support distressed students and teachers. And apparently the damned press was there, too. Something that Winter certainly could handle, but considering she was prone to outbursts if someone pressed the wrong buttons, he thought it was for the best if he handled that part. 

Just as he was about to start writing another email he noticed a man approaching.

“Are you Qrow Branwen?” the man who was still dressed in a surgical attire asked. 

“No, that’s –“

Qrow was by their side before James even had finished speaking, “I’m Qrow. What’s going on? Is Yang still in surgery? How’s she doing?”

“Your niece is out of surgery,” the surgeon said with a strained smile on his face, “She’s stable. She did lose a lot of blood, but it was manageable. Unfortunately we couldn’t save her arm… but she’s alive.”

Qrow gritted his teeth but nodded. The alive part was what mattered, there was no use getting angry at the doctors for that. Also, Ruby was standing behind him, completely silent once more. He did not want to start yelling at people in front of her.

“When can we see her?”

“Why don’t you come with me?”

James watched Qrow and Ruby hurry after the doctor. For a while he contemplated if he should just leave, but he still wanted to make sure that his students were alright. He sighed and got up from his chair, heading after them. 

Qrow and Ruby were let into a room, but James decided to stay behind and wait for a while. He still wanted to find out about Blake Belladonna's status anyway.

 

* * *

 

About half an hour later James lifted his head as he heard a door open and the sound of footsteps, it was Qrow and Ruby finally exiting the room.

“Hey, kiddo,” Qrow softly said and put a hand on his niece’s shoulder, “Yang’s gonna be alright, okay? She’s tough. There’s no way she’ll let this beat her down.”

“B-but… she could have died, she looked so pale,” Ruby’s voice trembled, “And how’s Blake? What if she’s really hurt?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t know, we aren’t her family so…” he sighed and pulled a hand through his hair, “I’m sure she’s fine, alright? Blake was the one who got herself and Yang out of danger.”

“Okay…”

Ruby didn’t sound convinced, and Qrow didn’t really look very convinced either, but he had to try for her.

Qrow stopped moving as he realized that James still was standing against the wall, waiting. He sighed and looked down at Ruby, smiling slightly.

“Why don’t you go buy something to eat for the two of us, huh? I think there’s a cafeteria nearby on the ground floor,” Qrow suggested as he shoved his hand into his pocket and handed Ruby a couple of crumpled up bills, “I think Jimmy over there wanna talk to me for a bit. Is that okay?”

Ruby nodded as she tried to smooth out the bills a bit before folding them, “Yeah… I’ll come back soon.”

“Good girl,” Qrow softly said as he ruffled her hair affectionately. He watched her until he had disappeared behind a corner, then he turned towards James, “You still here?”

“It’s James, not Jimmy,” James pointed out with a frown on his face, “And I wanted to know how Miss Xiao Long is doing, but I did not want to intrude when you spoke to the doctor.”

“Well, dunno what to say,” Qrow shrugged and leaned against the wall opposite of James, “They couldn’t save her arm. She’s still unconscious after the operation. But she’ll live.”

James let out a relieved sigh, “Good. That’s good news. While you were in there I heard that Miss Belladonna apparently also is going to make it. No organs were damaged.”

“That’s… that’s good,” Qrow murmured, “I’ll have to tell Ruby. And Yang, once she wakes up.”

James nodded in acknowledgement, unsure of what more to say. He didn’t really have any more duties to attend to at the hospital for now, but it felt as if he couldn’t leave just yet. There was still something that he had to do.

“There are possibilities, you know,” James said after a while, “I know it is still early, but your niece is a young woman with all life in front of her. Something like this shouldn’t be allowed to set her back. There are hi-tech prosthetics that work as well as a real arm, if not even better.”

Qrow twitched. Sure, he appreciated the fact that James felt as if he wanted to help, but right now Qrow was just exhausted and emotionally drained. And even if it sounded great in theory, he knew that there was no way in hell they’d be able to get the kind of prosthetics James talked about.

He scoffed and crossed his arms, “Yeah, as if we’d be able to afford those Atlas prosthetics. There’s no fucking way in hell that I can cover even a tenth of what that’d cost.”

To be honest he doubted he’d be able to cover even a tenth of a tenth of the price. 

“There are ways to get–“

“What, funding? Like suing your ass for letting this happen? Insurance? I don’t think those are going to work out as I want them to, _Jimmy._ ”

James let the nickname slip this time even if he hated it. Qrow was a hard nut to crack, especially when he was riled up. He was convinced that things would go the way he had imagined they’d, and thus he refused to listen to any reason when he had made up his mind. But James could not let that get to him.

“I have contacts, I can call in some –“

“Listen, we don’t need your damned pity, we –“

“So you are saying that by trying to make things right I’m pitying you? Grow up, Branwen, or are you planning on letting your damned pride make things worse?” James finally snapped, taking a couple of steps towards Qrow and grabbed him by his shirt. He had had enough of constantly getting interrupted, and the sudden angry outburst seemed to have stunned Qrow into silence, “I get that you do not like me, and you do not want to rely on others… but sometimes you have to. And I’m not offering my help to _you_ , I’m offering to help your niece!”

Qrow was quite taken aback by the way James had snapped at him. Of course they had gotten into several arguments before, mainly about the fights Yang had been in, but James had always remained calm and composed while Qrow had tried to rile him up by being a jerk. Sometimes he couldn’t help wondering if James ever had let any incidents slip just so he wouldn’t have to call Qrow in for a talk.

He desperately wanted to come up with something to throw back at James, but deep down he knew that he was being awfully childish. Refusing help for Yang would be foolish but James made it sound so much simpler than it could be. Qrow _knew_ that ordinary people didn’t get those high-end prosthetics. Only military and rich people had the luxury of harnessing such technology. 

Normally Qrow stayed upright in front of James to not feel so short compared to the giant of a man, but now he felt his entire body slump down as he looked up at him. He was exhausted and the fighting did not make anything better.

“Just… please just stop,” Qrow sounded so strained that James actually felt guilty and let go of him, “Listen, you’ve got good intentions, but I can hardly afford to keep things going around for me and the girls as it is right now. I need to focus on _them_ , not chase after things that most likely won’t happen. I’ve done that before, and it never works out in my favor.”

“I will let it go for now,“ James sighed and after careful consideration he put his gloved hand on Qrow’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze to offer some kind of comfort, “But please keep it in mind.”

“We’ll see,” Qrow muttered and stared at the hand on his shoulder as if it was something offensive, but he did not shrug it off since he could tell that James really was trying to be nice, “It’s not as if they’d do those things right away, right?”

“Normally, no,” James quietly said as he removed his hand from Qrow’s shoulder and briefly glanced at it before putting both of his hands behind his back, “She’ll probably need to talk to someone, process the trauma. And be a part of taking the decision since it’s her future.”

Qrow grunted as he leaned against the wall again.

“Listen, I’ll… I’ll probably get in touch with you again quite soon,” James glanced at the clock on the wall, grimacing because he knew he’d be running late for some a meeting about the incident, “I’m required to handle the situation back at school. Give your nieces my best wishes, Qrow.”

 “Yeah, yeah. Have fun with the press, Jimmy.”

“James.”

“Whatever, Jamie.”

James exhaled loudly and turned around. There was no point once Qrow decided to be an asshole. Easiest thing was to just let it go, which he did as he stared to head out of the hospital.

And he couldn’t get out soon enough. It was too bright in there, too white and unlively. But the worst thing about hospitals was the damned smell. The smell made James feel sick to his stomach no matter why he set his foot inside a hospital. Unfortunately he seemed to be going to them a lot.

The moment he got outside he stopped and took a deep breath of fresh air. All he wanted to do was to go home and take a shower to get rid of the smell that certainly had stuck to his clothes. And he needed to pick up Penny in a couple of hours, but he had to go back to his school.

After enjoying the fresh air for a couple of more minutes he grabbed his keys and his phone, quickly dealing a number.

_"Hello?"_

“Hello, it’s James Ironwood,” he grimaced as he got into his car, hoping the smell wouldn’t stick to it as well, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to pick up Penny right away today. Could she possibly stay at your place for a couple of more hours? I will pay for the extra time.”

_“Of course, Mr. Ironwood, it shouldn’t be much of a problem today.”_

“Thank you, Ciel, I greatly appreciate it.”

With that he hung up and dropped the phone in the passenger seat, taking another deep breath.

James was going to have a couple of long days ahead of him, and he was already exhausted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've jumped onto the "James is much taller than Qrow" train and I don't think I'll be getting off of it because I have a thing for height differences.  
> Anyway, the story is soon starting to go where I actually want it to go since I'm getting closer to the later chapters that I've written, so that's nice! I'm not 100% sure when next update comes because this is going to be quite a busy week in school, but I'll try to update within a couple of days!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yangst incoming.

After losing her arm, Yang wasn’t the same.

Of course no one had expected her to bounce back as if nothing had happened. They all thought she was taking time to process the loss of her arm, but that wasn’t really the hardest part for her. 

The hardest part was that Blake had disappeared out of the hospital before Yang had been released and no one knew where she had run off to. Yang had tried calling, several times, but she just got to the voice mail and she had lost count of how many messages she had left the first week she had been home.

The messages had been about worry at first since the last time Yang saw Blake had been when she was bleeding on the ground after being stabbed. After that followed messages of desperation, begging Blake to return her calls or show some kind of sign that she was alive. And then came the anger. Anger at being left behind without any explanation. Anger at being abandoned _again_ without any explanation. Just like her parents had left her.

During the second week at home, she gave up on trying to reach Blake. Adam Taurus had taken her arm away, but Blake had managed to take a huge part of Yang's heart and also her will and motivation to do anything. And that hurt more than losing an arm.

And now, a month later, Yang was still feeling just as unmotivated. She spent most of her time in bed, staring out the window, hardly talking to Ruby or Qrow even though both of them frequently dropped in to check on her and just offer company.

But didn’t they get that she didn’t want company? Was it too much to ask for to just be left alone? Of course Yang loved her sister and her uncle, but she didn’t want to hear about Ruby’s day in school, or how big of an idiot Qrow’s current client was. Normal talk about normal days in their normal lives. But Yang's normal had been taken away from her. On one occasion she had snapped at Ruby, but upon seeing the brief look of hurt in her sister’s eyes Yang had felt absolutely horrible. And Ruby, being the kind person that she was, had just tried to cover up the hurt with a smile. 

Yang felt awful, and she was becoming an awful person because of it, which was the main reason why she didn’t want them to talk to her. If they didn’t talk to her, maybe she wouldn’t be able to hurt them.

“Yang?”

“What?” Yang didn’t even turn her head to look towards Ruby, instead looking out the window again. It was cold outside judging by the snow that was falling.

“Uncle Qrow forgot to buy groceries so… we’re thinking about ordering food. Want anything special?” Ruby cautiously asked, carefully studying her sister.

Yang sighed and shook her head, “It doesn’t matter.”

“A-alright, I’ll tell uncle Qrow.”

With that Ruby left her room quickly, almost as if she was scared that her mere presence would bother Yang.

Yang looked down and clenched her left fist. It was the only fist she had left but that didn’t stop her from slamming it into the wall as hard as she could, several times.

The pain would never compare to how she felt inside.

 

* * *

 

Qrow sighed heavily as he heard the faint sound of what he suspected was the wall being punched _again_. If Yang kept punching it like that not only the wall would get damaged, but also her good arm. He was at a loss of what to. A month had passed and no matter what he did Yang hardly would leave her room. Mostly he or Ruby came by with food a couple of times each day since she wouldn’t even sit down and eat with them, and the two of them had also realized that Yang refused to eat if they sat down with her in her room. 

She was actively pushing them away, Qrow knew that, but he had to do _something_ for her, he just didn’t know what he could do. He had a feeling that there was more to the situation than just the trauma of the attack. He knew that Blake had disappeared because James had asked about it, and he also knew that Yang tensed up every time Blake was mentioned.

Qrow tiredly shook his head as stared at the empty pizza carton on the table. They had ordered food earlier, Ruby had suggested Chinese but Qrow had said that he wasn’t feeling up to it. To be honest he hadn’t had anything against it, but he was more worried about Yang having a breakdown about not being able to use chopsticks with her left hand. Pizza had been the safest bet.

Ruby had headed to her room to do homework after dinner, leaving Qrow alone in the living room. He had work to do. He was already late with meeting a deadline, but work was his least concern at the moment. And it had been like that ever since the accident, something that was obvious if you checked out his bank account. He hadn't gotten nearly enough work done lately, and he knew it would come back to haunt him. 

With a grunt he pushed himself up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen to get a drink. But just as he was about to open a bottle of vodka he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. With a frown on his face he put the bottle down and headed out to the hallway. He wasn't quite sure who to expect at such a time on weekday, and once he opened he was surprised to see James standing there. 

“Qrow,” James said as if it was a greeting on its own, “I hope I’m not disturbing... I was driving by and thought I’d check in.”

Qrow glanced back into the house briefly before looking at James again, “Mind taking a walk?”

He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea inviting James inside when there was so much tension in the house, and Yang was obviously having a bad day. Not that she was having a lot of good days lately, but the wall-punching days were certainly among the really bad ones. 

“How about a drive instead?” James suggested, “I’m afraid I’m not really dressed for the sudden snow.”

Qrow shrugged. A drive would do. He wasn’t sure what James wanted, but getting out for a bit wouldn’t be too bad. He quickly got his shoes and jacket on, ready to head out. 

“Hey, girls! I’m going out for a while, that okay?” he called, waiting for a response.

Ruby soon peeked out of her room, looking a bit confused about Qrow’s sudden decision to head out. Once she saw James standing behind him she realized what was going on though, and gave Qrow a thumb up. Unsurprisingly, Yang didn’t say anything.

“Just give me a call anything comes up, but I’ll be back soon,” he assured as he backed out of the hallway.

“Alright uncle Qrow! Be careful, don’t slip in the snow!”

“Won’t do,” he said and smiled as Ruby got back into her room.

Once the two of them were outside Qrow followed James towards a car parked nearby. Neither of them spoke until they had gotten into the car and James had started driving. For a while Qrow just glanced out the window, watching the snowflakes fall. It was pretty, but considering how much it was snowing there would probably be a lot to deal with the next day.

“Sorry for not inviting you in,” Qrow commented after a couple of minutes of silence and looked over at James, “Things are a bit tense at home.”

“How are the girls doing?”

Qrow sighed and shrugged. 

“Yang’s not taking things well. She’s hardly talking to us…” he paused briefly, “I know she’s still trying to get used to things, but I think there’s a lot more to it. Ruby’s trying to do well, but she’s really on edge around Yang. Not that I blame her, Yang snapped at her last week.”

“She’s still staying in bed most of the time?”

“Yeah. Hardly leaves. She won’t even eat with us,” Qrow bitterly said, "I don't know what the fuck to do at this point."

“Have you talked to her about the possibilities I brought up last time I visited?”

No, Qrow definitely hadn’t. A couple of weeks ago James had shown up once more to talk a bit. It was obvious that he still felt guilty about what had happened, so he had dropped by their house a couple of times. Even though Qrow had been quite hostile at the hospital he had to admit that the things James said about prostehtics were kind of interesting, but he still knew that he’d never be able to afford the high-end ones. And he didn’t want to give Yang a false sense of hope, it would be cruel to tell her about the ideas if they wouldn't be able to pay. 

“I don’t think she’s very open to that kind of thing yet,” Qrow admitted, “And I think there's more to her current mood... Have you heard anything more about Blake?”

James’s grip on the steering wheel tightened as he shook his head. Blake’s disappearance was something he thought of every day. Of course one couldn’t help worrying considering how dangerous Adam Taurus was. James's only comfort was that it seemed as if she had left the hospital on her own free will. Wherever she was now he could just hope she wouldn’t be chased down. 

“No news,” he tiredly said, “It's as if she has vanished.”

Qrow sighed tiredly and looked out of the window again. He had no idea where they were going, but he didn’t really care at the moment because the car ride was oddly relaxing and soothing. He’d never have suspected that he'd be able to relax so well around James, but maybe he just needed a change of scenery. He still didn't like James, at least that was what he told himself.

Suddenly James parked his car by a building and picked up his phone, sending a quick text to someone.

"What are we doing? Where are we?"

"Just picking up my daughter."

“Wait a moment...  _you_ got a _kid_?” Qrow asked in shock. He had had no idea whatsoever that James was a father. Did he have a wife, too? He'd have to ask Ozpin later.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I'm a headmaster, don't you think I can handle having a child of my own?"

Qrow was about to reply but he stopped when he spotted a redheaded kid pretty much bouncing out of the building and coming rushing towards the car. She didn’t even see him as she opened up the door to the passenger seat ready to get in and sit down when she came face to face with him.

“Uh– hello!” 

Qrow chuckled at the kid's surprised face expression, “Hey kid, sorry I got your seat.”

James smiled at her, “Why don’t you get into the back? You can change to the front seat once we drop Qrow off. It won't be long." 

“Sure!” she said, quickly shutting the front door and then getting into the backseat. She sat down in the middle so she was able to look at both James and Qrow.

“Did you have a good day, Penny?”

Penny smiled widely and nodded, hugging her backpack tightly, “Yes! I managed to finish most of my homework all by myself, and Ciel let me play some games when we were done!”

James smiled back at her and Qrow felt quite a bit of his hostility towards him drop a bit. It was hard to stay hostile when James looked at the kid as if she was everything in the world that mattered to him. James was certainly showing that he had many more sides than the serious headmaster with a stick up his ass that Qrow had been so used to dealing with.

“I’m glad, I’m sorry that I got late again,” James sighed as he started driving after making sure that Penny was wearing her seat belt, “I’ll make it up to you. You decide plans for the weekend. Whatever you want to do.”

Penny squealed in delight. She had a list of things that she wanted to do, she'd just have to pick out something really good! She would have pondered more on it if it was just the two of them in the car, but now she couldn't help looking at Qrow with a questioning look on her face, slightly curious about the stranger.

“Hey kiddo, I’m Qrow Branwen,” Qrow greeted her with a grin on his face once he realized that she had been watching him for quite a while.

If there was one personal rule he had, it was to never ever be mean to kids. And he was quite used to kids considering he still taught at Beacon once in a while.  

“It’s very nice to meet you, Qrow! I’m Penny!” she happily said, “Are you friends with dad?”

“Uh…” Qrow glanced at James who looked as lost as he felt upon hearing the question. They were on better terms now than before but Qrow didn't think he’d go as far as to define them as friends but he wasn't sure exactly how to explain their relationship so he settled with that, “Sure, I guess. You been hanging out with your friend?”

Penny shook her head, “No, well, I mean... she’s nice but she’s my tutor,” she looked a bit sad and Qrow realized he had touched at a somewhat sensitive subject.

“Nice backpack you got there, one of my girls loves that show too,” he quickly pointed out to change the subject, “Think she got the same bag.”

“Really?! I’ve never met anyone else who watch it! It’s my favorite!”

Qrow raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. Poor kid, what kind of people did she hang out with if she didn’t know anyone who had watched Vytal Champions? It was one of the most popular cartoons on TV and Qrow had more than once been forced to watch it with Ruby. It was actually kind of good, even though he'd complain and deny it. 

“Maybe you should meet Ruby sometime. It’s her favorite show too."

“Dad, did you hear that?!” Penny excitedly exclaimed, “Can I meet her sometime?”

“I… well, why not?” he glanced at Qrow who nodded to let him know that it was okay and that it hadn't been empty talk, “But not tonight since it’s getting late. I’m sure there will be time for that some other day.”

“Yeah, there'll be plenty of time for that later,” Qrow agreed, “I’m sure she’d like to meet you and talk about the show. Then _maybe_ I can catch a break, I feel as if I’ve got an obligation to keep tabs on it so I’ll understand even half of what she’s talking about. It's as if she's speaking a different language.”

James couldn’t help smiling to himself. He had the same very experience. Penny loved to talk about the show and it was impossible to keep up with the conversation if you had no idea what was going on. So sometimes he’d watch it with her, just so he’d be able to more actively take part in some of her interests. It was worth it if he'd get to see her smile and laugh. 

And maybe Qrow wasn’t so bad. It was obvious that he loved Ruby and Yang a lot, but he hadn’t expected him to be so good with Penny. He had been a bit unsure if it had been a good idea to pick her up with Qrow still there, but it appeared that he had had no reason to worry. Qrow seemed to be a natural at talking with kids.

The rest of the ride was surprisingly relaxing. James hardly talked during it, instead he just enjoyed listening to Qrow and Penny talk about the show. 

After they had dropped Qrow off and Penny was back in the front seat they started talking about her day again, but after a while Penny silenced and looked a bit more serious.

“Dad, do you really think that Ruby girl could become my friend?”

“I… yes, of course,” he reassuringly said, just hoping that he was right, “She’s a very nice girl. I'm sure she'd like to get to know you.”

“I look forward to meeting her then!” Penny smiled widely at him, looking so hopeful that it almost made his heart physically hurt, “I’d really like a friend!”

James couldn't bring himself to say anything so he just smiled back at her even though he couldn't help feeling guilty.

Maybe he had been too overprotective over her. He hoped that Ruby would turn out to be someone who could befriend Penny, because he wasn't sure he could take seeing her sad and disappointed again. He just wanted her to feel safe and loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a bit unsure if I wanted to add this chapter, I could have skipped to a later time in the story but I really wanted to get Yang part in there, and I also realized I had a good opportunity to bring Penny into the fic.
> 
> There are some scenes between this chapter and the previous one that I kind of want to write, so I might publish some deleted scenes that didn't make it into the story, not sure if it'll be here or on my tumblr (or both) but I'll let you know if that happens :)
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and interest in the story!
> 
> (Also, I apologize for any errors. I've read through it several times but it's over 3AM and I've got a fever so I might have missed out on something!)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got a bit longer than planned since I added a scene (and thus had to cut out another scene which instead will happen in next chapter because otherwise this would have ended up waaay too long), but I felt that it worked out the best this way. Enjoy!

When Ruby ended up crying once more before heading to school Qrow knew that he had to do something about the Yang situation.

Life at home was getting so tense that none of them were able to relax. Of course he’d never dream of blaming her for feeling upset or needing more time to process things, but the way she was acting was affecting _everyone_ and it pained him to see Ruby look so sad every time she stopped by Yang’s bedroom door, hesitating for a while before sighing and moving on. Before the incident Yang’s door was almost always open, and Ruby could spend hours in there talking to her. That was what Qrow always had been so happy about, that they always had each other. 

But those days were gone and Qrow knew that they’d never come back unless he decided to finally take the bull by the horns and get Yang to talk about it. So after standing outside her room for a couple of minutes he took a deep breath and mentally prepared for battle before going in without even knocking.

“Yang, listen, I’m going to be really damned blunt right now,” Qrow grabbed the chair by Yang’s desk, pulled it towards her bed and sat down, “You’ve lost your arm, you’re upset, shit like this takes time to process. But you made Ruby cry _again_ this morning. If you’re angry and want to hurt someone then at least save it for _me_ because I’m the adult here. And I get it, you –“

“You get it?” Yang repeated and dug her fingers into the blanket as she turned to look at him, anger flaring up in her eyes, “Who’s the one with only one arm here?!”

“I think both you and I know that there’s more to it, the arm itself isn’t the problem any longer, is it?” Qrow crossed his arms, refusing to back off this time, “And if I don’t get it then _talk_ to me. We aren’t a bunch of mind readers and I'm sick of trying to guess what's going on in your head!”

Yang clenched her fist, tempted to once more hit the wall where she actually had managed to make a dent after punching it a few times too many.

“You wouldn’t understand, no one does! She left me!” Yang was yelling now, her entire body shaking with pent up emotions that she had tried so hard to keep inside ever since waking up in the hospital and perhaps even further back, “She left me there alone without even saying anything! Just like them!”

Qrow’s gaze softened as he saw tears start to form. That did confirm that it was Blake’s disappearance that bothered her the most, and that it also had brought back the trauma from her childhood.

“I wouldn’t understand, huh?” he tiredly asked and leaned back in the chair, he took a deep breath before continuing, “You know, you weren’t the only one left behind back then. Raven never told me anything before she vanished and she was my _twin_. I was there with you and Tai at Summer's funeral. And when Tai walked out, he didn’t only walk out on you guys, he also walked out on _me_. Those three were my _family_ , Yang. So yeah, you’re feeling really fucking shitty but don’t say that I don’t understand, because there doesn’t go a day without me thinking about them.”

His voice cracked at the end since he was struggling to keep his own emotions in line. Yang obviously had abandonment issues, but so did he. He knew all too well how it was to wake up in the morning and feel as if it was just him against the world even though he had Ruby and Yang. And there was always a constant fear of losing them looming over him. So seeing Yang try to shut them out really pained him.

Yang lowered her head and her entire body was shaking with suppressed sobs.

“I’m not telling you to move on as if nothing happened,” Qrow quietly said and got up from his chair so he could sit down next to Yang on her bed, “But I _am_ telling you to stop pushing us away and treating us like shit because believe it or not, we _love_ you and we’re not going anywhere even if you’re trying to deliberately distance yourself. You need to take a good look at yourself and think of your actions because if you keep this up you’re going to lose your connection to Ruby. And trust me, you do not want that to happen.” 

Yang stared down at her hand which once more was gripping tightly at the blanket. Why did Qrow always have to be right about things? Why was he able to pinpoint all the reasons why she was acting the way she did? 

Without saying anything Qrow sighed and pulled her in for a hug, and for the first time in over a month she didn’t fight or push him away. Instead she let her head fall against his shoulder and she clung to him as she finally let the tears flow. 

“You don’t have to be strong all the time,” he assured her, "Just let it out. You don’t have to do this alone.”

It was all it took for her to just let go of it all, letting her walls crumble. She shook and cried in Qrow’s arms for what felt forever, falling apart in a way she hadn’t done since Summer's death. She hadn’t even cried when Taiyang disappeared, but now all years of pent up emotions just came out at the same time. The crying was messy and loud, and she was surely getting both tears and snot on Qrow’s shoulder. But it didn’t matter. Qrow was just glad that she _finally_  was showing something more than just apathy and anger.

“I’ve got you, kid,” Qrow soothingly rubbed her back as he closed his eyes, “I’ve got you.”

“W-why did she leave me?” she managed to get out between sobs, "I cared about her so much!" 

“I really wish I could answer that for you, but all you can do is hope that she’ll come back and give you answers.”

Yang lifted her head from Qrow’s shoulder and sniffled, looking at him with red and puffy eyes, “Maybe I don’t want to see her any longer.”

“Are you sure about that?” he smiled sadly, "I think you do want to see her again."

More than a decade after losing his closest friends and family Qrow still desperately wanted to see them. Maybe not for a tearful reunion but for _answers_. At least they had gotten some kind of closure about Summer because she hadn't left them on her own free will. Meanwhile Raven and Taiyang had disappeared out of their lives without any explanations. There were still so many questions keeping him up at night and he had a suspicion that it was the same for Yang.

And he didn’t want her to become like him. God, if there was one thing he wanted to prevent it was for the girls to end up the same way he was. They deserved better. 

Yang let out a shaky breath and forced herself to let go after a couple of minutes. In turn Qrow loosened his embrace, allowing her to get some space. She shifted in the bed but let her head fall to rest on his shoulder again. She hadn’t realized how much she missed her family. 

“I’m sorry," she quietly said after a while and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "I've been terrible."

“You don’t have to apologize, not to me at least,” Qrow smiled fondly at her, “I understand. But Ruby does deserve an apology. Don’t push her away, Yang. At the end of the day we don’t have much left.”

She sighed heavily, “Yeah… I’ll talk to her when she gets back.”

“That’s my girl,” Qrow kissed the top of her head, “Knew you’d eventually come around.”

“Uncle Qrow… if you don’t have too much work to do, do you think we could have lunch together?”

Qrow grinned and nodded, “Sure thing, kid. We could watch a movie or something. We got a couple of hours to kill before Ruby comes back home anyway, right?”

Truth to be told he did have a lot of work to do. He’d not get paid for missing even more deadlines, but how could he say no when Yang had refused to eat with them for so long? The deadline could wait. He’d figure out the economic situation later. For now the small smile on Yang's face made his worries go away.

 

* * *

 

_“James, is something wrong?”_

James sighed into the phone and rolled his eyes, “Can’t a man just call one of his old friends out of nowhere?”

_“Not when it comes to you, because you never call me for small talk.”_

“Would you consider Qrow Branwen a good man?”

There was silence for a while, and then James heard Ozpin hum in amusement.

_“What in the world made you call to ask about this?”_

James pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, “Because I… I have found myself getting more and more involved in his life than I had planned to. It was just because of Yang at first, but since then I find myself talking to him several times each week and not only about Yang. He met Penny, and now Penny wants to meet Ruby.” 

_“Well that sounds great, I’m sure it would be a great experience for both of them.”_

“I just don’t want her to get hurt, Ozpin, she’s been through too much already,” he walked up to his liquor cabinet and grabbed a glass and then a bottle of whiskey. He poured up a hefty amount before putting the bottle back, “I’m just not sure if this is good. Am I getting too involved with them?”

_“Relax and don’t think so much, James. I’m sure it will be fine.”_

“But Qrow and I aren’t known for getting along,” James gripped his glass tightly as he looked out at the city bellow them from the window, “During the time Yang have attended my school he’s been constantly trying to rile me up, and I know for a fact that my calm demeanor just pisses him off. I might keep calm when students are involved, but if it gets personal… Ozpin, it might be a bomb in the making.”

 _“You only knew him as the guardian of a student, and he only knew you as the headmaster who kept calling him in for meetings about his niece. Now you’re entering a completely different world with different dynamics, you aren’t in your office any longer.”_  

“That’s why I was wondering if I’m getting too involved,” James exhaled loudly and took a sip of the whiskey before dropping down in his office chair, “Am I being overbearing? By introducing Penny to Ruby it’s _really_ becoming more of a personal relationship than a professional one.”

_“There’s nothing wrong with that, is it?”_

“I… I guess not?”

_“Listen, James, what is bothering you so much about potentially befriending Qrow?”_

“I don’t know.”

He honestly didn't. He had no idea why he spent so much time worrying about it since they were starting to get along better.

_“I find it interesting that this is keeping you up on a Thursday night. You seem to think about Qrow and his family quite a lot.”_

James wanted to deny it, but it was true. Lately he did spend a lot of time thinking about Qrow and his nieces. The Adam Taurus incident had certainly brought him closer to the family even though he still wasn’t sure if he and Qrow were even friends. But he _cared_. At first it had just been out of guilt for what had happened to Yang but now it was more than that. He had seen how much Qrow cared about the kids, and he had also showed how great he was with other kids when he met Penny. 

Those things made it hard for James to not think about him and he still wanted to help to make sure that Yang would get a new arm if she wanted to, but Qrow always seemed to dodge that topic or guilt James into starting to talk about something else.

_“Are you overthinking again?”_

James twitched as Ozpin brought him back to the conversation, he wasn't sure for how long he had been quiet. 

“I was just thinking about how stubborn he is. I’m trying to help make sure that Yang can get a prosthetic arm but every time I bring it up he starts talking about not being able to afford it, or that he haven’t spoken to Yang about it yet…” James took another sip of whiskey before putting it down on the desk, “I don’t know how to approach him about it without him blowing up.”

_“You might have to be a bit more forward with Qrow, don’t just talk about it, take action.”_

“What, like bringing a team of specialists to his house? He’d kick me out!”

_“Just show him the options, don’t just talk about it. You need to make him see that it is possible and not something out of his reach. Give him the full monty.”_

James sighed as he glanced at the folders piled on his desk, he grabbed one and flipped through it lazily. He had contacted several of the specialists he knew and they had sent material regarding some of the newest prosthetics they worked on. James had collected everything that could be a fit for Yang and placed it into folders. Maybe he should just take it to Qrow and shove it into his face, like Ozpin suggested.

“You might have a point,” James admitted, “I’ll try again. I know that I could talk to Yang about it since it is _her_ arm, but I feel as if he’d think of it as me going behind his back if I did that… Thank you, Ozpin.”

_“Oh? I’ve not done anything."_

“You did help clear up my mind a bit," James pointed out and then paused, "Are you doing any better?”

_“What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine, James.”_

James sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling, “If you say so. Don’t hesitate to contact me if there’s anything I can do for you.”

 He could hear Ozpin chuckle softly, _“You need to stop worrying about everything, including me. Now, goodnight, I believe both of us have work tomorrow. And tell Penny that I said hello.”_

“I’ll certainly do, goodnight,” James said and hung up.

He knew that he should go to bed considering it was over 1 AM, but instead of putting his phone away and heading towards his bedroom he decided to look up Qrow's number in his phonebook. He had added it a couple of weeks ago so he'd be able to get in touch about things regarding the incident at school. He stared for a while before he decided to just send him a text. The faster he could try and get Qrow to accept the help, the better. 

 _Do you think I could come by with Penny on Saturday? She really wants to meet Ruby. We won’t overstay. This is James, by the way._

Maybe it was stupid, especially sending a message so late at night on a weekday, but he was feeling restless. 

If Qrow said yes, then he could bring Penny to his house  _and_ he could also bring the documents regarding the prosthetics. James trusted that Qrow wouldn't start a fight about it if the kids were around, he didn't seem like the kind of person who'd do that. Even when they had been in meetings at school he had only been a jerk when Yang wasn't around. He had tried to keep it to a minimum otherwise.

James was just about to stand up when his phone buzzed, Qrow was apparently also awake.

_Qrow Branwen [01:07AM]: Sure jimmy. Just fine me a headsup so I know sheen to expectyou_

Awake and drunk, judging by the poor spelling, which made James feel a bit concerned but he decided to not ask. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t Qrow’s friend, not _yet_ at least. He risked getting cut out of their lives immediately if he meddled too much so soon, so instead he just sent a short reply to acknowledge Qrow's message. 

_Great. I will. Goodnight._

As he headed to his bedroom he just hoped that everything would work out. At least he had a couple of days to carefully plan his approach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Yangst for everyone (including Qrow)! Also, some wheels are starting to turn in James's head.  
> Random note: the Ozpin scene didn't exist in the fic at first, but since he's one of my faves it's impossible to not add him. And I just like the thought of James calling Ozpin at odd hours trying to sound casual even though they both know that James won't call him for smalltalk at 1 AM on a weekday (or any day, really).  
> Might be able to get one more chapter out this weekend!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again I present you with a chapter that has been changed a million times and had several different outcomes, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out in the end. This is one of the chapters that I actually had started writing way before chapter 1, so I got to use some already existing material at least!

Saturday came a lot sooner than James had expected and wanted it to come. He still wasn’t sure about his strategy regarding getting Yang one of Atlas’s prosthetic arms, there was always a chance that it would backfire and Qrow would ask him to go to hell for once more bringing it up.

But that was what he had Penny for, too. He realized it was a bit of a gamble since Qrow possibly could explode anyway, but he had displayed pretty good restrain around kids and he _did_ occasionally work for Ozpin at Beacon. Even though James sometimes questioned Ozpin’s way of doing things, he doubted that he’d let someone unqualified and dangerous teach the kids.

Penny was his actual second concern. She was really excited and a bit nervous about getting to meet Ruby. James just wanted her to be happy and therefore he was terrified that the girls wouldn’t get along. If Penny left disappointed he wasn’t sure what to do to cheer her up. He’d have to put his faith in Ruby and just hope that she'd want to befriend Penny. She did seem very nice and polite so he was probably overthinking, but it was hard turning off the concern.

If everything would go according to plan then he’d be able to go home with a happy daughter, and hopefully he’d also have managed to convince Qrow to accept the offered help. If not, then maybe it would be for the best to leave the family alone to handle things their own way, but he refused to give up without trying a couple of more times.

“Are we there yet?!” 

James chuckled as he glanced at Penny who almost was bouncing in her seat, making the small basket in her lap almost tip over, “Soon. I don’t want to go faster since the road is quite icy.”

Penny nodded thoughtfully as she looked out, it was still snowing and it would be hard to tell how much ice there was underneath it.

After a while she turned to look at her father again, “You really think Ruby will like me?”

“Yes, of course, why wouldn’t she?”

Penny lowered her head and gripped the basket a bit tighter, “Well, because… you know.”

James sighed heavily, if he wasn't driving he would have given her a hug. 

“Penny, you don’t have to tell her anything you aren’t comfortable with,” he glanced over at her briefly, hating the look of self-doubt on her face, “You haven’t even met her yet. Take some time to get to know her and if you want to tell her later, you can. But always remember that no matter what, you are _you_. Don’t let anyone stop you from being who you want to be.”

Thankfully that made Penny brighten up a bit again and she smiled, “Okay dad, if you say so.”

He smiled weakly, wishing he was more confident in the advice he had given. All he wanted was for Penny to be happy, but it wasn’t easy when you constantly worried.

 

* * *

 

“–are here, uncle Qrow!“

 Qrow groaned and opened his eyes, squinting at the sharp light in his room, “What?”

“Mr. Ironwood and his daughter are here!” Ruby repeated as she pulled gently at his arm. 

“But they aren’t supposed to get here until Saturday at 1,” Qrow complained and put a pillow over his head, ignoring how Ruby pulled at him. 

“It _is_ Saturday at 1…” Ruby trailed off and removed the pillow from his face, she looked concerned, “Are… are you okay, uncle Qrow?”

Qrow rubbed his eyes and nodded even though it was a huge lie. He felt like crap and could easily have slept through the entire day if no one had woken him up, but he had told James that it was okay to come over, and he didn’t want to let neither Ruby nor Penny down. He wasn’t _that_ much of a shitty person. But he was really confused about it being Saturday already. It almost felt as if someone had erased Friday. 

“Just give me a minute, gonna go and wash my face to wake up,” he grumbled and forced himself to put his feet down on the floor, “Think you can handle our guests for just a while longer?”

"Yeah, I can do that," Ruby said but she still looked worried, “You really sure that you’re okay? I can tell them that it isn’t a good time –“

"Nah," Qrow chuckled and ruffled Ruby’s hair as he pushed himself up from the bed, “They’ve gotten here, would be rude to make them leave, right? Go out and join them, I’ll be there soon.”

Ruby just smiled widely and nodded before rushing out of the room. Qrow wasn’t as fast as he made his way out and into the bathroom. He almost grimaced when he saw his reflection in the mirror. Not only did he feel like shit, it also showed on his face judging by the dark circles underneath his eyes. Now he could kind of see why Ruby had been so concerned. 

With a sigh he grabbed his toothbrush and put a hefty amount of toothpaste on it. He didn’t quite remember much of the night before, but there was an undeniable faint taste of vomit left in his mouth, which told a story on its own. Too much alcohol. _Way_ too much. 

It had just been a really bad week for him. Of course he was glad that Yang was doing better and actually joining them more, but now there were other things to worry about as well. Like their financial situation. Anytime he thought about the rent that he hadn’t been able to pay yet he felt sick. Soon he’d have to call Ozpin and ask if he had more work hours to offer at Beacon, because at this rate they’d be evicted and that was not something he wanted to put the girls through. They needed the stability now more than ever. 

Once Qrow walked out of the bathroom he didn’t feel much better, but at least he looked a bit less like a mess. He just hoped that he didn’t smell too much like an old drunk. He would have changed into a fresh set of clothes but he had neglected doing his laundry. 

As he approached the kitchen he saw Ruby talking to James and Penny, and he couldn’t help smiling. He was proud of her for opening up and handling the situation, normally Yang would be the one to keep guests busy while Qrow got ready. Not that Ruby was bad at it, she was just wasn't as comfortable with people as Yang had been. 

“Hey, sorry, I had a late night,” Qrow said as he entered, he gave James a slight nod in greeting before looking at Penny and grinning, “How are you doing today, kid?”

“Sensational!” she chirped and put her small basket on the kitchen table, “Dad and I baked some cookies this morning, and then we went here and Ruby was nice and let us in! Also, we brought some of the cookies we baked!”

“Oh my God, I love cookies!” Ruby clapped her hands together as Penny opened the basket, “They look amazing!”

“You should have seen the first batch,” James sighed and shook his head, “I’m surprised we even had any to bring. It was a disaster.”

“It wasn’t _that_ bad, and it was you who forgot to turn on the timer,” Penny defensively said but once James chuckled she smiled again.

Qrow just studied them for a while. Ruby was already munching on a cookie that Penny had offered.

“So, Ruby… once you’re done swallowing that, think you can give Penny a tour and show her your room, huh?”

Ruby nodded enthusiastically and stood up immediately, “Let’s go, friend! Looks like the adults are trying to get rid of us anyway.”

“Just thought you’d have more fun without us oldies,” Qrow dryly said and rolled his eyes as Ruby stuck out her tongue at him, “There’s soda in the fridge if you want to grab some for you and Penny.” 

Ruby did grab something to drink for her and Penny before taking off and since there wasn’t all that much to see in their home they seemed to head right for Ruby’s room, and once the girls were out of sight and he heard the door close he turned towards James who looked incredibly relived of the fact that the first contact between the girls had gone so well.

“Well, that went way faster than expected,” Qrow commented and scratched the back of his head, “But then again cookies are a sure way to get Ruby on your good side.”

“Guess it was worth the kitchen chaos, then,” James chuckled but as he took a closer look at Qrow he frowned, “Did we come at a bad time?”

“Nah. Knew you were coming, just forgot about the time and overslept,” Qrow headed up towards the coffeemaker, he glanced over his shoulder at James who sat down by the table, “Want coffee?”

“Yes please, that’d be nice.”

“Coffee coming right up then,” Qrow murmured as he started the machine which thankfully was loaded up already, “So, was Ruby a good host?”

“Excellent,” James chuckled as he thought of how surprised Ruby had looked whens he opened up the door, and how different she had been from the time he had picked her up at Beacon, “I think we caught her a bit off guard, but she was very graceful. Let us in and told us to sit down. And she was very nice to Penny.”

Qrow smiled softly, “Yeah, she’s a good girl. Hope they’ll get along well. I mean, Ruby’s got friends but they’re mostly Yang’s friends. Older. Even if there only are a couple of years between them it’d be nice if she could get some in her own age, too.”

James nodded slowly and looked a bit more serious, “Penny doesn’t have a lot of friends her age either since she doesn’t go to school. It'd be good for her to have a friend.” 

“She’s homeschooled?”

James nodded, “She used to go to school, but there was an accident involving some of the kids in her class. After that she was scared, and to be honest I just wanted to keep her at home… so that’s how it’s been since then. I’ve asked if she want to try out school again, but she seems uncertain. She wants to get more friends and do normal things girls her age do, but there’s always an element of hesitation.”

“What happened?”

“I’d prefer to not talk about it,” James offered a strained smile, “Not only for my own sake, but for hers.”

Qrow nodded slowly in understanding, “Yeah, sorry about asking, that’s none of my business.”

“It’s alright,” James said as he looked at Qrow, “Are you sure you’re alright? No offense but it looks as if you’re about to pass out.”

Qrow sighed and turned his back towards James to grab two coffee cups, “Just been a bit rough. Could have slept for a day or two. How do you like your coffee?”

“Black.”

Qrow snorted as he poured coffee into James’s cup and then into his own. For some reason he wasn’t all that surprised. He had imagined that James would be the kind of person who wanted his coffee black. Qrow preferred a bit of sweetness to it, thus he put one cube of sugar into it and also noted that they were running low on sugar. One more thing to worry about concerning the lack of money.

He put the cups down on the table and sat down in front of James, he was about to speak when they heard a scream coming from Ruby’s room and Qrow could see how James’s entire body tensed up as he was about to get up from his chair. However, the scream was followed by loud laughter from the girls.

“Looks like you need to relax a bit,” Qrow took a sip of his coffee, “They’ll be fine. I'm used to hearing screams and laughter around here.”

James took a deep breath and exhaled, nodding. He knew that he was being ridiculously paranoid.

“How is Yang doing?”

“She’s doing a bit better,” Qrow sighed but did manage to smile tiredly, “It’s been rough, but she’s talking to us again and starting to actually leave her room.”

“I’m glad to hear that, and while we’re on that topic…” James trailed off as he opened up the briefcase he had put next to the table, taking out a folder.

“I actually brought some things for you to look at,” James put the folder on the table.

Qrow frowned as James opened it up and pushed it towards him, not sure what to expect. 

“What is this?” Qrow asked and  flipped through a couple of pages, “Is it…”

He stopped talking as he stared at a bunch of photos. Photos of what appeared to be a prosthetic arm that looked amazing. And with no doubt would cost a fortune. 

“It’s one of Atlas’s latest models,” James commented and leaned forward over the table, “They’ve been working very hard on their sensory technology lately and from what I’ve been told, that arm can sense most things a normal arm can do. Warmth, cold, touch… there are warnings for pain, but that’s to alert the user to make sure they do not break it. It’s made out of light yet sturdy material, making it weight about as much as a real arm would, so it wouldn’t put too much strain on her body.”

Qrow just kept staring at the images, flipping through a couple of more pages. He skipped most of the pages which contained nothing more than a lot of specifications and text, instead scanning over the pages of pictures more thoroughly. He could read up on the details later. 

And the prosthetic looked incredible. Qrow had imagined something bigger and bulkier, but the arm looked as if it was built to really resemble a human arm in shape.

“I don’t know about you, but I thought it would be quite a good fit for Yang,” James said after Qrow had been staring at the same images for a couple of minutes.

“I… that looks great and all, but –“

“Qrow, please don’t think about the money,” James tiredly said, he had known that it was coming, “For her sake, just let it go. Do you want this for her, yes or no?”

“Of course I want this for her, as long as _she_ wants it,” Qrow bitterly said, “But it’s not so simple, is it?”

“For you, it is,” James smiled wryly, “I can make one simple phone call, and we’ll be able to set up a meeting with a couple of Atlas specialists for Yang. She could have a new arm in a month or two, depending on the process.”

It was a bit of a lie. Of course it wouldn’t just be a simple phone call, it would probably include a _lot_ of phone calls to a lot of people, but that was a minor detail that Qrow didn’t need to know about. What was important was that it was fully possible as long as Qrow would come around and drop his worries. James could deal with making it all work as long as Qrow just stopped being stubborn. 

“Why are you doing this?” Qrow asked after a while, "No offense but it just seems to fucking good to be true." 

“Because she was attacked in _my_ school,” James said but Qrow kept looking at him as if it wasn’t enough of an explanation, “ _And_ because I know how difficult it can be to lose part of yourself.”

He pulled the glove off of his right hand and wiggled his robotic fingers in front of Qrow, “I went through... heavy reconstruction many years ago. It isn't easy.”

“I… shit, I had no idea,” Qrow admitted and he couldn't help feeling like a bit of an ass for pressuring James into having to explain his reasons for wanting to help Yang, “Thought you had burned yourself or something like that.”

“Well, now you do know,” James put his glove back on and looked into Qrow’s eyes, “I swear, Qrow, just say the word and I’ll make the call. There’s literally nothing you have to worry about. This isn’t about the money, it’s about Yang." 

“I can’t make the decision for her,” Qrow murmured, “Yang should be the one to do it.”

“Well then, let’s talk to her?” 

“Give me a moment,” Qrow said after silently contemplating it for a while, in the end he got up from his chair, “I’ll get her.”

Before leaving he looked at James, “Whatever you do… please don’t mention Blake unless it is on her terms.”

“Of course,” James softly said and nodded, and with that Qrow left to get Yang.

A million thoughts were running through Qrow’s head. Even though James had said that there was no need for him to worry about the cost, he couldn’t help wondering how the thing would be funded. It had to cost a fortune, especially since it was one of their latest models. But he did shake the thoughts as he headed towards Yang’s room and knocked. That kind of prototype could really help her, he'd have to keep thinking of that. 

“Yeah?”

Qrow opened the door and looked inside, Yang was sitting in her bed, headphones around her neck and the laptop in her lap.

“Think you could come out a moment? Jimmy wants to talk to you.”

Yang raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Who the hell is Jimmy?”

Qrow snorted, “Ironwood, your headmaster."

Yang tensed up slightly but she did nod as she got out of her bed and followed Qrow to the kitchen where James patiently was waiting. 

“Nice to see you up, Yang. How are you doing?” James politely asked as Yang leaned against a wall.

“I’m… I’m doing okay, I guess?” she said but it didn’t sound very convincing, “Uh, Mr. Ironwood, about school, I’m –“

“Oh,” James’s eyes widened, realizing that to Yang it probably seemed as if he was there to talk about her academic future, “Don’t worry about that, I’m not here for school business, I’m here for more personal reasons. There’s something I’d like you to take a look at…”

He tapped the folder on the table and Yang slowly approached, looking down at the papers.

Yang opened her mouth and looked up at James the moment she realized what it was, “Why are you showing me this?”

“Would you want to get an Atlas prosthetic?”

“I…” Yang looked down at the folder again and flipped through a couple of pages, “Aren’t these like super expensive?”

“Don’t worry about that, just yes or no, would you like to get one of those?” James asked again, hoping that she'd let go of the cost easier than her uncle did. 

“I didn’t think they made them look so lifelike…” she murmured as she looked at one of the images, "Is that artificial skin?"

“They’ve been working on making them look more natural and less robotic,” James crossed his arms and nodded, “This one isn't even out on the market yet. Won’t be for another half year or so… but you could have it within a month or two. Of course you'd need to meet with a couple of specialists to have it tailored to fit you perfectly.”

Yang looked shocked and she could hardly bring herself to speak and in the end she just managed to utter a single word even though she had a million questions, “How?"

“I have several contacts within Atlas and some happen to owe me a couple of favors,” James left it at that, not feeling up to going into details about his relationship with Atlas. That was a long and quite personal story, "Favors that I'm ready to use right now."

“You aren’t going to get into trouble for this, are you?” Qrow asked with a frown on his face, not able to keep quiet any longer, "It sounds a bit suspicious."

“No, I won't,” James assured, “I still have too much influence. Now, should I be making that call later today? Or will I have to come back and try to convince you again?” 

Yang looked down at the images again and then turned her gaze to what was left of her right arm. After a while she looked up at Qrow who just gave her a nod to signal that it was her choice to do exactly what she wanted. This wasn't a choice no one else could do since it was her body, and she had the power to decide over it.

But what _did_ she want? To be honest, she wanted her life back. She wanted it to be like it had been before the attack. Getting a prosthetic arm would definitely be a step in the right direction. It would at least be more than she had now. Of course a new arm didn't mean that she'd get Blake back, but what did she have to lose by getting the arm? Nothing. Now she could only gain things, and just maybe she'd one day get answers from Blake, too. But nothing would get better by sitting at home sulking and refusing help when it was presented to her.

She looked at James and Qrow saw a flash of determination in her eyes that he hadn’t seen for a long time.

“Make the call.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I think the actual Ironqrow will be set in motion soon. I mean, now James is really getting involved in their lives and they are kind of learning to know more and more about each other, and their kids kinda clicked instantly. I would have wanted a bit more Penny and Ruby interaction, but it would have made the chapter too long and I kinda wanted it to end with Yang's decision.  
> There's a deleted Penny and Ruby scene that I might publish separately, but i'm not sure.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Not 100% sure when next chapter will be up because I have a deadline to meet.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being so late with this! Got several deadlines to meet for university so I've not been able to write as much as I would have liked to.  
> And I've scrapped about four versions of this chapter these last couple of days, but to be honest I'm glad that I did because this will work out much better with the later chapters I've got finished already.  
> Hope you'll enjoy!

Qrow had to admit that he felt a sense of relief knowing that Yang would get a new arm. Two weeks had passed and she was already set up for a meeting in a couple of days.

Even if he fucked up, she’d get that back in her life.

The financial situation looked no better, though. The landlord had put up a notice of eviction on his door, warning him that if he didn’t pay in certain amount of time, he’d be required to leave the premises. There was only two weeks left until that, and Qrow wasn’t sure how the hell he was supposed to scrape the money together, especially since he’d have to pay the late rent _and_ the current rent. 

It was one of those things that he probably should have been very open about with the girls, but he was stressed out already and he didn’t want them to feel the same way. Ruby was happy, she had found a new friend who she always talked about (Penny), and she felt as if she had gotten her sister back. Yang was getting more and more social, doing things at home as well as she could, and Qrow had seen the impatience in her eyes as she waited for the meeting with the Atlas specialist James had contacted.

They deserved their happiness but Qrow knew that it was a very fragile situation. Whatever he did, he doubted he’d be able to get enough money to pay up in time, but he didn’t want to beg anyone for help.

“You want some?”

Qrow blinked and turned around to look at Yang who was about to make herself some noodles. He _was_ hungry, but he shook his head, “Nah, I’m fine kid.”

Yang frowned and put her hand on her hip, “I just heard your stomach growl, uncle Qrow. And you’ve been passing up on a lot of food lately…”

“What are you trying to say?” Qrow casually asked and looked down at the newspaper on the table, “I’m just not hungry, Yang. I’ll eat something later.” 

“No you won’t,” she said in frustration, “I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to bring this up, because I thought that _maybe_ you had figured it out, or that you would _talk_ to us about it but apparently not.”

 Qrow sighed heavily as he looked at Yang, “What are you going on about?”

“I saw the eviction notice.”

Qrow felt his stomach lurch. He wasn’t feeling very hungry any longer, now he just felt sick again. So much for trying to keep the girls in the dark, he should have known that it wouldn’t work out in the long run.

“It’s under control, Yang, let's leave it at that.”

Yang just stared at him with a blank expression on her face, and Qrow knew that she didn’t believe him. Yang was much smarter than that and she had seen right through him. Qrow almost had a feeling that he had been tested, that she had been observing him ever since she found out.

“Can you stop lying? It’s not helping.”

“Trust me, I’ll fix it, alright?” Qrow turned his head away from her, staring down at his trembling hands. He wasn’t sure if it was because of fatigue, stress or the fact that he hadn’t had any alcohol for quite some time,  “You shouldn’t have to worry about it.”

“I kinda think that we should worry about it considering that it’s our _home_ , uncle Qrow!” Yang exclaimed in frustration, “Listen, we can… we can sell stuff, alright? That’s a start. I can sell my computer, and there’s a lot of other things that –“

“No,” Qrow firmly said and stood up, shaking his head, “No fucking way. You are not going to sell _your_ things because _I_ fucked up. I’ll figure this out, just give me some time.”

She still didn’t look convinced, and he couldn’t blame her. How could he expect her to not worry about the fact that they could be evicted in less than a month?

“If you don’t have a solution before the end of the week… please talk to me,” she quietly said, “We can figure it out. As a family.”

Qrow shrugged and leaned against the wall, “Sure.”

“ _Promise_ me,” she added after a while, “Swear that you’ll talk to me.”

Qrow gritted his teeth before nodding stiffly, “I promise.”

Once he promised one of the girls something he really couldn’t go back on it. After going through so much while growing up they deserved to not have any more promises broken.

Now he just had to come up with a solution.

 

* * *

 

Once Sunday came around Qrow still hadn’t managed to come up with a solution, at least none that would work out in time. Not because he wasn’t trying, but because his body decided that it had had enough of him neglecting its basic needs.

He had been on his way to the bathroom when his world suddenly became blurry and he collapsed. It was as if someone had pressed an emergency shutdown button.

To be honest he hardly remembered what had happened. One moment he had been up, on his way out, and then he had suddenly been lying on the floor, not able to make anything out of the situation. Yang had been yelling, shaking him, and shortly after that things had kind of just gone black. 

Next time he came to, he realized that he was back in his bed again with absolutely no recollection of how he got there. He opened his eyes and groaned at the light, causing him to drape an arm over his face to shield himself it. God, his head was throbbing in pain. 

“Qrow? Are you with me?”

Qrow frowned as he forced himself to move the arm. He turned his head to the side way too fast, making him see double for a while before he managed to focus again. Next to his bed was James Ironwood, watching him carefully from a chair that he must have taken from the kitchen. 

“James? What… what are you doing here?” Qrow croaked as he attempted to push himself up, but his entire body was screaming in protest so he let himself fall back against his pillows, “What the fuck happened?”

“You don’t remember?” James asked and Qrow shook his head and rubbed his temples, “I was dropping off Ruby. Yang said you passed out just a minute or so before we came in. You did however wake up again and refused to let us call an ambulance… I decided to stay here to make sure that you'd be fine.”

Qrow grimaced, “I don’t remember any of that.”

“Not too surprising, I guess,” James said, “You were completely out of it. I’m still not convinced to not call an ambulance.”

Qrow groaned, the last thing he wanted was to be hauled off to a hospital and end up with more bills to pay, “Please, don't.”

“We’ll see,” James crossed his arms and leaned back, “Yang said that you’ve not been taking care of yourself, hardly eating or sleeping. The girls are making some soup. You _are_ going to eat it, Qrow.”

“You ain’t my goddamned mother –“

“What _would_ your mother say then? I hardly think she’d approve!”

“Grab a goddamned shovel and ask her if you’re curious, because she’s been six feet under for a long time,” Qrow snapped, anger flaring up in his eyes, “Fuck off, I don’t need you to lecture me!”

James closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath to take a moment to collect his thoughts and try to calm himself.

“I’m not here to start a fight, I’m here because you scared the hell out of Yang, and I happened to come here at that time,” James said as he stared at Qrow, “And because I’m a _friend_.”

It was the first time he had referred to Qrow as his friend. A part of him still felt uncertain, but he had spent an awful lot of time around Qrow and his family. Even more so since Ruby and Penny had gotten along so well.

James had almost expected another outburst from Qrow but instead he saw some of the anger dissipate from his face.

“Friend, huh?”

“Yes, well….” James paused and awkwardly shifted in the chair, “You might only think of me as Yang’s pain in the ass headmaster, and to be perfectly honest I just thought of you as an annoying jerk. But you are a good man, and I… I guess I do think of you as a friend, no matter what you think of me.”

Qrow crossed his arms over his chest, “You _are_ a pain in the ass, and you’re Yang’s headmaster...”

James raised an eyebrow as he waited for Qrow to continue, “But…?”

“But I guess you are pretty okay. I've had far worse friends.”

James couldn’t help letting out a chuckle. "Pretty okay" coming from Qrow was for sure a compliment. But after a while James looked serious again as he eyed Qrow. 

Qrow had looked a bit worse for wear ever since Yang got hurt, which wasn’t too strange. Who wouldn't have been stressed out by such a bad situation? Even James had lost sleep over it, so he knew it must have been far worse for Qrow. But as time had passed, Qrow had started to appear even worse. It looked as if the man hardly slept, he was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. James could also almost swear that Qrow kept getting thinner.

“Care to share why you’ve been neglecting to take care of yourself?”

Qrow shrugged, “Just had a lot to deal with. The girls are my priority, not me.”

“How do you expect to take care of the girls when you hardly can get out of your own bed, Qrow?” James softly asked. He really did understand what Qrow was getting at, but he was not doing himself or the the girls any favors, "Do you think this is making anything better? What are you accomplishing?" 

Qrow _really_ wanted to tell James to mind his own business, but he couldn’t. Because he knew that James was right. At the moment he wasn't capable of taking care of his nieces, and he could definitely fix their financial troubles if he was too fatigued to even walk out of his bedroom. 

He was just making things worse for everyone.

“I’m not lecturing you,” James cautiously added after a while to avoid making Qrow snap at him again, “Maybe it does sound like a lecture, but I’m just trying to offer you a different perspective.”

“I know,” Qrow bitterly said, “Fuck, I _know_ that you’re right, okay? And I _hate_ it. It's not -”

A sudden knock on the door interrupted Qrow mid-sentence and he silenced as the door opened. In walked Ruby and Yang with Penny in tow, all three of them looked quite worried, but he could see how Yang's shoulders relaxed upon seeing him awake. 

Qrow forced himself to smile at them, trying to ignore the conversation with James for now.

“Hey, sorry I gave you a scare,” he softly said, “Not been a good week.”

His gaze lingered for a while longer on Yang since she was the only one who knew exactly how bad the situation was. At least he thought that she hadn’t told anyone else. James only appeared to know that Qrow hadn’t been eating right, not the reason why. And he doubted she had told Ruby.

“We made you some soup,” Ruby meekly said, approaching with a tray that she placed on the nightstand next to his bed, “Think you can eat some? Maybe it will make you feel a bit better…” 

She looked shaken and Qrow instantly felt even guiltier than before. He was supposed to be _their_ support. Since they were babies he had been one of few reliable things in their lives when everything else had gone to hell. But now _he_ was becoming unreliable, too, and he couldn’t imagine how terrifying it had to be for them.

“Of course,” Qrow agreed and took the bowl from the tray, “It smells great.”

“Penny and I made it!" Ruby said and looked over at Penny who offered a small smile, "Yang gave us a hand, too!”

“The only hand I've got left, so I hope it was worth it.,” Yang said and the room suddenly became oddly quiet. After a while she huffed and looked around at the others in disappointment, “Come on, no one? Not even a chuckle? I'll not be able to make any of these jokes once I get a new arm.”

“That’s not very funny, Yang,” Ruby said but she couldn’t help smiling a bit before looking over at Qrow again, "It's just chicken soup, no hands in it!"

Qrow snorted as he grabbed the spoon and was just about to take a sip of the soup when he realized that everyone had gone quiet again, but this time they were all staring at him.

“I’m not sure what you guys are expecting, but this isn’t a show,” he said with a raised eyebrow as he put the spoon in his mouth and swallowed.

It actually tasted really good, he realized. Way better than most of the things Ruby had cooked before. The kid wasn't really  _bad_ in the kitchen, she just tended to sometimes forget about the time and suddenly something would be burnt.

“I tried to make it like the soup you make for us when we get really sick,” Ruby proudly said, “It’s not really as good as yours, but, you know… it’s the thought that counts?”

“It’s delicious,” Qrow said and took another spoonful of soup, first now realizing just how damned hungry he was, “Good job, girls.”

The girls started to make some smalltalk with Qrow as he ate, meanwhile James watched them in silence. He did so until he saw that Qrow had finished most of his meal, then he sighed and stood up, glancing over at Penny who quickly came to his side.

"Since you appear to be doing a bit better, I think we should leave so you can rest," James looked from Qrow to the girls, "Take care of your uncle. Get a funnel and pour soup down his throat if you have to."

Qrow rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to flip James off, "I'll be  _fine_. Don't need anyone to feed me."

"I'll believe it when I see it," James dryly said and put a hand on Penny's back, "But we'll probably come by tomorrow just to make sure that you haven't gotten any worse."

"Whatever," Qrow grumbled, he couldn't bring himself to start fighting again, "Hey, Penny. Thanks for the soup."

"I didn't do much but you're welcome, Mr. Branwen!" she said with a wide smile on her face before giving both Ruby and Yang quick hugs, "Bye!"

With that she joined James again, heading out of the room.

Qrow sighed as he put the bowl back on the tray and looked at Ruby and Yang who both were sitting on the edge of his bed.

"So... what do you say about a movie night?"

 

* * *

 

Qrow yawned as he reached for the remote to turn off the TV. It was almost 1 AM, and he had lost count of how many different movies the girls had made him watch. Yang had gone to bed a couple of hours earlier, but Ruby was fast asleep curled up against Qrow's left side. When he had asked if she were getting tired she had insisted that she wasn't, even though she barely could keep her eyes open. He realized that she didn't want to leave because she still was worried about him, so he had simply scooted over and made more space for her. It was the least he could offer to make her feel better.

He had worried them way too much and he knew that Yang had to be aware of the fact that he hadn’t come up with a solution for their financial situation.

In the end Qrow gritted his teeth as he reached for his phone and opened up a text conversation. The sooner he dealt with the issue, the better. 

 _[12:47 AM] Qrow:  
_ _Oz I've fucked up._

 _[12:48 AM] Oz:  
_ _What’s wrong?_

Of course Ozpin answered immediately. He _always_ did. Qrow sometimes doubted that the man ever slept since he seemed to always be available no matter what day or time it was. Qrow wasn’t sure if he loved or hated Ozpin for it. For a while he couldn’t bring himself to answer, not wanting to involve anyone else. It was enough with the girls and James worrying, but what choice did he have?

 _[01:06 AM] Oz:  
_ _Qrow? You're worrying me. Should I come over?_

_[01:08 AM] Qrow:  
_ _We’re about to get evicted. I’d not do this if it wasn’t for the girls but I need some help. Can work for it._

 _[01:09 AM] Oz:  
_ _You should have contacted me sooner. Of course I'll help._

 _[01:12AM] Qrow:  
_ _I’ll pay back every single Lien as soon as I get up on my feet again I swear._

 _[01:19 AM] Oz:  
_ _Don’t stress about it :)_ _You should check your account._

Qrow twitched at seeing the little emoticon. Ozpin didn’t use a lot of them but Qrow had noticed that every time they were talking about something that Qrow was stressing about, Ozpin would throw in the occasional emoticon. Probably to try and make the situation seem a bit more casual. It usually didn’t help a lot, but Qrow could at least appreciate the thought.

With a sigh he exited the conversation and started up his banking application. Even though he knew that Ozpin had transferred money, his eyes widened slightly as he noticed that his balance was way higher than he had expected it to be. It looked as if would be enough to pay for at least two months of rent, Ozpin must have realized that Qrow would have troubles paying for the current rent as well as the late one.

Qrow let out a breath he had been holding in for a while and closed his eyes, putting the phone against his chest. He had to remind himself of the fact that it wasn’t just help for him, it was also for Yang and Ruby. For them he could swallow his pride. And now it was done. They were out of immediate danger and even though he hated being in debt, he did feel a bit relieved. 

 _[01:25 AM] Qrow:  
_ _That’s way too much money, Oz._

_[01:27 AM] Oz:  
_ _Don’t return it. I’ll just resend._

Of course he would, Qrow had once before borrowed money from Ozpin that he had tried to return. It had been a stubborn battle, and Ozpin had won. He always did.

Qrow glanced down at Ruby, phone still in his hand. For her sake he wouldn't be stubborn this time. He'd just take the money and pay Ozpin back in the future.

Now he just had to focus on getting back up on his feet so he could go back to being a somewhat functional human being, and a good start would be getting some proper sleep.

But before going to bed he sent one final text message.

 _[01:34 AM] Qrow:_  
_Thanks._

 _[01:37 AM] Jimmy:_  
_Anytime. Hope you're doing better. We'll come by tomorrow.  
:)_

More emoticons, and from James it was  _almost_ cute. He cursed mentally and dropped the phone on his nightstand before rolling over onto his side, trying his best to not disturb Ruby's sleep.

It was getting harder and harder to not like James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just maybe I should consider giving Qrow a break.  
> ANYWAY. Next chapter will bring up some serious talk and possibly backstories. That's one of the chapters I finished before chapter 1 even was written, so I'll just have to edit it. It'll probably be up tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I'm entering week 2 of having a stubborn cold and I'm still drowning in university stuff. But I managed to piece together this chapter since I had about 80% of it finished since before this fic even was published!  
> Hope you'll enjoy, this is quite dialogue heavy since it contains quite a bit of backstory.

A couple of days had passed since Qrow had passed out and he was doing a lot better. Of course he was still feeling quite fatigued, which wasn’t very weird considering how little he had taken care of himself lately, but he was improving. James had been dropping by every day with Penny and Qrow had to admit that he liked how lively it had made their home. Ruby and Penny were still getting along great, and Yang was starting to hang out more and more with the rest of them in the kitchen or the living room.

Today was however the first time James suddenly had shown up during lunch, even though he had work. A meeting had been cancelled and he had insisted on coming over. Qrow hadn't really been able to do much more than just step aside and let the man into the kitchen where had started to prepare lunch for the two of them despite Qrow insisting that he didn't have to.

After eating the two of them had ended up sitting in the couch just making small talk while some stupid reality show was running in the background.

But it was easy to run out of topics to talk about, so after a while of silent contemplation James decided to bring up something he had been wondering about for quite some time. And since it was only the two of them in the house they did finally have some privacy.

“Qrow… can I ask you something personal?”

Qrow raised an eyebrow and stopped scratching Zwei who was lying in his lap, he looked over at James with an unsure look on his face, “Sure…?” 

“You don’t have to answer me, but I’ve been thinking about the fact that none of you three share the same last name,” James said with a frown on his face, “And I can see the resemblance between you and Ruby, but Yang… she’s doesn’t look a lot like any of you. How are all of you related?” 

Qrow couldn’t help bursting out laughing, making Zwei jump down on the floor in surprise. James just stared as Qrow kept laughing and he didn’t stop for a good minute. Qrow had to take a couple of deep breaths before being able to speak properly again.

“Shit, that gets me every fucking time,” he chuckled and wiped his eyes, he had laughed so hard that he almost had started to cry, “It’s funny because Yang is my biological niece, and Ruby isn’t.”

James’s eyes widened, “What?”

“It’s not the first time I get that reaction,” Qrow laughed again and shook his head, “Yang’s my sister’s kid. Taiyang, the kids’ father then got Ruby with Summer, a mutual friend. She pretty much became Yang’s mom too, though.”

Qrow’s gaze suddenly went solemn. It still hurt to think about it, even though a decade had passed. 

“How long have you taken care of the girls?” James softly asked, “You three seem very close.”

“Well, we don’t have anyone else. It’s been just the three of us for ten years…” Qrow murmured, “But I’ve been taking care of them way longer. Think I’ve changed at least as many diapers on Yang as her parents did.”

“What happened?”

James knew that he really was digging deep into Qrow’s personal life, and judging by the look on Qrow's face he didn’t look very happy about his past. But James wanted to know more about Qrow. He wanted to know his background, where he came from, and how he had come to take care of the girls and love them so much. 

And maybe Qrow needed someone to talk to. James just hoped that he wouldn't come off as too pushy. 

“Jeez… gonna drag me on a trip down memory lane, huh?” Qrow tried to sound lighthearted but the tone didn't change the look in his eyes, “It’s a messy story.”

“I’m ready to listen. I don’t have anywhere to be for the next hour or so,” James assured, “But if it is too private, then I apologize. You don’t have to tell me anything, Qrow.”

Qrow shrugged and stared at the glass of water on the table. Part of him really didn’t want to revisit, but now he was already thinking about it so he might as well get it over with and just tell the story

“I had a couple of really close friends back when I was young. It was me, Summer, Tai and my twin, Raven,” Qrow began as he thought back of the time they all had been attending school together. Those had been good times, “We were inseparable, and not long after we had graduated, Tai and Raven hooked up. A couple of years later Yang was born and everything was just going great.”

He still remembered the day Yang had been born. All of them had been there in the room, supporting Raven. Not that it had seemed like she needed the support, she had been a champ and at one point she had even told Taiyang to get out of the room if he kept trying to couch her through it. but once he had actually attempted to leave she had quickly changed her mind. Yang had been beautiful. Taiyang had cried, Summer had cried, and maybe Qrow had gotten a bit teary eyed when he got to hold his niece.

On that day he had sworn that he’d _never_ let anything bad happen to her. He had made the same promise when Ruby was born. They were the most precious things in the world.

“A year later Raven walked out. Tai said she just walked into the forest behind their house and never returned,” Qrow bitterly said, “We searched the goddamned woods forever, but we never found a single trace of her. A lot of people think she’s dead, but I don’t.” 

“What makes you think she’s alive?” James asked with a frown on his face, “I’m not saying it to be insensitive, but if she’s been gone for so long…”

“I know it sounds unlikely, but I _know_ her,” Qrow gritted his teeth and crossed his arms, trying to contain his anger towards her, “I love her, but we had very different views on a lot of things. I’m sure she’s out there somewhere… She pulled disappearing acts when we were younger, too, but I didn’t think she’d walk out on her goddamned fiancé and their kid.”

It was still angering him, especially since he was almost certain that she still was alive. What had urged her to just walk out like that? Who did such a thing to their _family_? He wanted answers, but doubted he'd ever get them. 

“Tai was a wreck once it hit him that Raven wasn’t coming back. He kinda shut down. One day when I visited I heard Yang crying while Tai was just lying in his room, not responding. So I stepped up. Changed her diapers, fed her, played with her… I took her to my place for a couple of days and told Tai that he’d have to get a grip because he was a goddamned father.”

And Taiyang hadn’t been the only one who had lost something. On the same day that Taiyang had lost the love of his life, Qrow had lost his sister. Raven had been one of his last remaining family members, at least the last who had given a shit about him. But taking care of Yang had made things easier for a while, it had been a sort of distraction.

“Eventually he did get better,” Qrow murmured, “Summer and I kept checking up on them, though. Because once in a while he’d have another breakdown, and then someone had to step in. And then they fell in love.”

“So that’s where Ruby got her last name… Summer Rose? And Yang got her father's last name?”

 

“Yup, that's right,” Qrow nodded, “Ruby was born just before Yang turned three. And damn, the four of them were the perfect family. Summer treated Yang as if she was her own, and they were so sweet it could make your teeth rot. They were happy, and I was mostly happy. It was hard to not be when they kept inviting me over for family time. I guess they knew that Raven’s disappearance had gotten to me, and I didn’t really have any other family in my life.”

James silently observed as Qrow sighed heavily and rubbed his face. It was obviously hard to talk about it, and James didn’t blame him. It did sound like a very rough past. 

“They deserved to have it all,” Qrow’s voice cracked and he had to stop for a while to collect himself again, “But a fucking drunk piece of shit driver hit Summer one day. She died and that’s when things really went to hell. Tai’s shutdown when Raven disappeared was _nothing_ compared to when Summer died. It was as if someone just had snuffed out his will to live, even if he had two daughters.”

“I’m so sorry, Qrow..." 

“Yeah, me too,” Qrow quietly said, “Ruby was so young back then, she didn’t really understand the concept of death. It’s hard trying to explain to a four year old that her mom never will come home again. And Yang was a mess, but she tried really hard to be strong for Ruby. And for a while Tai did pretty okay, before the shutdown really hit him. I think he knew that the kids needed him, but in the end his demons caught up with him." 

Qrow took a deep breath as he pushed himself out of the couch and headed into the kitchen. He grabbed the only alcohol he had left, a bottle of tequila, and headed back to the living room. He didn’t even bother grabbing a glass as he unscrewed and took a quick swig from the bottle. Since James was going to go back to work later, he didn’t offer any to him either. 

“I really tried to visit as often as my job allowed, but one time I had to leave town for a week. When I got back I found Tai lying in his bed, not answering, and the girls were gone. Felt my fucking heart stop because I thought I had lost them. Called the police, but the house was hours from nearest police station, so I headed out to look on my own.”

Qrow started pacing in the room, his hold on the bottle so tight that James could see Qrow’s knuckles whiten.

“I went into the forest. Figured that a kid desperate for attention might try to look for a parent. Yang knew that Raven had gone into the woods. So I searched. Spent about five hours just trekking around, looking for trails. And I’m so damned glad that I didn’t give up. I found the kids in an old cottage. Yang was crying next to Ruby who was asleep in a wagon. Poor kid had blisters all over her hands and feet and couldn’t take a single step more. She had tried to find her way back home, but she just got more lost.”

James felt his heart ache for both the kids and Qrow. He could see why the girls loved and cared so much about Qrow, he had obviously been one of the few reliable adults around when they were children.

“I didn’t cry when Raven disappeared… or when Summer died,” Qrow let out a weak chuckle as he turned to look at James, “But when I found the girls I cried like a fucking baby. Those kids were and still are the reason that I keep going. Took hours getting out, and then I took the girls to my place. Patched Yang up, gave them a bath, made them food, let them stay up late and watch cartoons… and then I read to them until they fell asleep. I didn’t sleep that night, just watched them. I’ve never been so damned afraid in my entire life.”

James was at a loss of word even though it was a feeling he could relate to. He had been in a similar position once, with Penny, and there was truly nothing that compared to the fear of losing your children.

“Next day I let a friend watch the kids for a couple of hours as I went back to Tai’s house and broke his nose,” Qrow took another swig out of the bottle, feeling the alcohol warm his insides, “At least it made him snap out of it. We had a fistfight and both of us ended up pretty roughed up. In the end I had him pinned down and the poor bastard startled crying as I told him what his girls had been through, and that I wasn’t letting them go back to him unless he pulled himself together.”

“Did he get better?” James asked even though he knew that the answer probably was no, considering Qrow had custody of the girls.

“For a while... but one day he disappeared just like Raven did. No idea where he went off to,” Qrow bitterly said, “After that I had to go through hell to get custody of the kids because they didn’t think I was fit for it. Which is ridiculous since I’ve helped caring for them since they were in diapers.”

Qrow sighed heavily and looked at the bottle in his hand. It was almost empty, and maybe it was for the best. He didn't want to be shitfaced during day, especially not since the girls would get back home in a couple of hours. 

“And that’s how I came to take care of the girls…” Qrow murmured, “Shit. I’ve talked forever, haven’t I? You got work to do.”

James shook his head, “I’ll be in time. And thank you telling me. That can’t have been an easy story to tell.”

“It never is,” Qrow agreed and put the bottle down, “We’ve lost too much. The kids are all I’ve got left.”

“I know the feeling,” James quietly said, “I almost lost Penny once. It’s truly the worst feeling a parent can go through.”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t the girl’s parent but I –“

“Don’t be ridiculous,” James scoffed as he stood up and walked up to stand in front of Qrow, “You said so yourself, you’ve been caring for them since they were in diapers. Besides, if you ask me you need to _earn_ the right to be someone’s parent. Judging from what you’ve told me and from what I’ve seen, I can say that _you_ have earned that.”

Qrow couldn’t really bring himself to talk as he looked up at James who was _really_ close to him. He could almost swear that he felt James's body heat, that was how close they were. If he'd take just a tiny step forward they'd bump into each other. 

In the end James sighed mildly and took a step back, looking over at the clock on the wall. It was almost 2, which meant he’d soon have to get going.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to leave soon. Duty calls.”

Qrow chuckled and tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment as James backed away from him, “Yeah. Been keeping you here too long.”

“I came here because I wanted to, Qrow,” James smiled warmly and Qrow felt his heart flutter, "I wouldn't have been here otherwise."

It was strange feeling so warm and fuzzy around James all of a sudden. It had started around the time he got that stupid text message with the emoticon. James just cared too damned much, and to think that Qrow once had thought of James as nothing more than a stubborn heartless bastard. He had definitely been proven wrong and it just became more obvious the more time they spent together.

"-okay?"

"Huh?" Qrow let out, realizing that James still had been talking, "What did you say?"

"I asked if you are okay," James repeated with a concerned look on his face, and without warning he put his hand against Qrow's forehead, "You are feeling a bit hot..."

Qrow swatted the hand way and took a step back, hoping that he wasn't blushing, "It's fine. Just the tequila kicking in."

"Are you sure?"

"You're a fucking mother hen," Qrow complained and put a hand on James's shoulder, pushing him towards the door, "And you gotta get back to work. You aren't getting paid for taking care of me, take care of your students instead."

James chuckled as he put on his shoes and jacket. Qrow was right, even if he kind of wanted to stay for a bit longer.

"Well, take care of yourself," James said and trailed off as he hesitated on what to do for a while.

Qrow was surprised when James suddenly pulled him into a brief and kind of awkward one-armed hug, but it was a sweet gesture nonetheless.

"I'll be in touch," James said as he let go of Qrow and backed out with a small smile on his face, "Bye."

"Yeah, sure, bye," Qrow mumbled and waved before the door was shut.

The moment he was alone he cursed loudly and put his head against the wall. God, his face was heating up and he couldn't help it.

"You're not falling in love with James Ironwood," Qrow told himself and bumped his head into the wall, "You're  _not_ falling in love!"

He was definitely starting to fall in love with James Ironwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As said, quite dialogue heavy, or more like monologue heavy since it's Qrow doing most of the talking. But I wanted Qrow to open up a bit. And even though it really haven't been mentioned, James has been wondering about the names ever since he picked up Ruby for Qrow in the early chapters. He just never got around to ask since he didn't want to be rude (but now that he's actually getting friendly with Qrow he just couldn't keep it in any longer).
> 
> I also realized I never mentioned any character ages until now, huh? You can calculate Yang and Ruby's age through Qrow's story, but here's some info:
> 
> \- In this story Yang is 17, and Ruby's 14.  
> \- Yang was 1 when Raven disappeared.  
> \- Yang was 7 and Ruby was 4 when Summer died.  
> \- Not mentioned, but Penny's 14.  
> \- Qrow's 38 and James is 44.
> 
> Aaand that's all I've got to say. Don't know when next update will be, hopefully in a couple of days, but I got to try and get rid of this cold and get some school work done. (But I know myself, so I'll probably end up writing on chapter 9 tomorrow).


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a couple of chapters ready so I'm probably gonna update again tomorrow, and maybe on Sunday too.  
> Making no promises though because I've got three assignments which I /should/ work on during this weekend. But eh. I'm providing you with Ironqrow instead. Enjoy!

“And then the specialist showed me her arm, it was the model I’m getting, and you’d hardly believe it even was mechanical, it even _felt_ like real skin and she could use it just as well as her real hand!” Yang exclaimed and showed a photo from her phone, “Look at it!”

  
Qrow chuckled as he humored her and looked at the pictures Yang was showing. The arm really did look fantastic, and he was glad to see her excitement. She had just gotten back home from her first meeting with two Atlas specialists, and she was absolutely thrilled. They had gotten a proper medical history on her, talked to her about the medical procedure, taken measurements and such things to make a perfect fit for her. And she’d been talking none stop for almost an hour. 

“That really looks great, firecracker,” Qrow fondly said and looked at her, “Did you get a second appointment booked?”

“Yes, they’ll get started on making a model for me soon, and we’ll talk again in two weeks, and after that… well, they said that they’ll suggest dates for surgery… so it’s not gonna be too long!”

“I’m happy for you, Yang,” Qrow grinned, “You’ll be kicking ass in no time at all.”

She scoffed as she put her phone down on the table, “Please, I don’t need arms to kick ass.”

“True, true.”

“So…” she said after a while with a look on her face that made Qrow frown. She usually got that look when she wanted to ask something but wasn't sure how to word it.

“Whatever it is, spit it out.”

“You and Mr Ironwood have gotten really close lately…”

Qrow twitched, he hadn't expected a complete change of topic, “He’s helping us out. And Penny and Ruby are basically glued together. Of course he’s around here a lot.”

“Well, someone told me that he was here when I studied with Weiss… when you two were _alone_.” 

“Yang, don’t be ridiculous. He didn’t even know I was home alone,” Qrow rolled his eyes and grabbed his cup of coffee, “What are you getting at?”

“Oh nothing, just been noticing you smiling a lot more when he’s around. And, you know, making heart eyes at him,” Yang said with grin on her face, “I mean, I don’t blame you, he _is_ pretty hot for an old guy.”

Qrow had just taken a mouthful of coffee during Yang’s talk and he almost spit it out as she mentioned him having made heart eyes.

“W-what the hell? I’ve not been making heart eyes at James!”

Yang snorted and put her hand on Qrow’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly, “That’s cute. You’re in denial.”

Qrow flushed and gently slapped her hand away, “Seriously. There’s nothing going on between us, and it won’t happen. Jimmy’s just being nice to us and I don’t think there’s anything more to it.”

“Don’t you _want_ it to be more? Come on, Qrow, you’ve not dated in… ever? Have some fun, ask him out! What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Can’t fucking believe I’m getting dating advice from a teenager,” Qrow grumbled, “And I bet he’s straight.”

Yang winked at him, “So you have considered it. I mean, why would you otherwise have thought about his sexuality?”

“You did say he was hot,” Qrow muttered and took another sip of his coffee, “And I happen to agree, it would be stupid to deny that. But it ain’t happening. Also, I don’t need a boyfriend. I’ve got all I need right here.”

Yang sighed heavily as she turned around and jumped up to sit on the kitchen countertop, watching Qrow’s back since he had refused to look at her for a while anyway. It always came down to the same thing, it seemed. She had asked him before about dating but he’d always say that he didn’t have time, or that he didn’t need anyone else in his life since he had Ruby and Yang. But was getting old hearing the same thing over and over again, and Yang was not as naïve as she was when she was a kid. She could see that Qrow wasn’t happy even if he claimed to be.

“I just want you to be happy,” she softly said, “And when he’s been around… I don’t know, you’ve been smiling and laughing a lot more. So _he_ makes you happy.”

“It’s… it’s just not that simple, Yang," Qrow tiredly said and shook his head.

“Maybe you’re making it more complicated than it actually is then? Also, you say that you have all that you need but… you know, we’re getting older. I’m soon legally adult. Even if we’ll always want to be part of your life, we won’t be around in the house forever, probably…”

Qrow closed his eyes and after a while he had to remind himself to breathe because he had been holding it in for too long.  
Of course it was a thought that had crossed his mind more than once. Yang was 17, and once she’d turn 18 she could leave if she wanted to. Sure, Ruby would be there for at least four more years, too, but the years were passing really quickly. And it was scary. 

He could still remember helping Ruby tie her shoes, it almost felt like it just had been a year or two ago even though a decade had passed, so four years would probably go by in the blink of an eye. People said that years passed faster the older you got, too. 

And then he’d be _alone_ in their home. Just Qrow and his damned nightmares, and he’d not even be able to get up and check to see if the girls actually were fine. He wasn't sure how he'd deal with things then.

“I know,” he muttered after a while, “But don’t get ahead of yourself.” 

“Sorry if I’m saying too much, I just… I don’t want you to be lonely, alright?”

“Don’t worry about me, kid,” Qrow softly said as he stared down into his cup of coffee, “I’m fine.”

Yang just stared at his back and shook her head.

No, her uncle wasn’t even close to being fine, and who’d take care of him once they’d move out?

Who’d be there if he one day collapsed again like he had done earlier? Yang didn’t know, and it scared her.

“If you say so,” she murmured and jumped off of the countertop to head back to her room, but she stopped next to Qrow again, “By the way, Ozpin called while you were out. Asked me to tell you to come by his office as soon as you could.” 

Qrow glanced up at Yang with a raised eyebrow, “Did he say why?”

She shook her head, “Nope. You better find out on your own.”

Qrow sighed as he finished the last of his coffee and got up.

"Might as well get it over with." 

 

* * *

 

 

“How nice of you to join me, Qrow,” Ozpin said with a smile on his face once the elevator doors opened, “Why don’t you sit down?”

Qrow shrugged as he headed up to the desk, sitting down in front of Ozpin.

“Thanks,” he said after a while, “For helping out. I’ll pay back every single Lien when I can.”

Ozpin sighed and shook his head, “There is no hurry. I can assure you that I in no way am in economical peril… and that’s not why I called you here, anyway.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow, “Then why _did_ you call me? What's important enough that you gotta talk to me in person?”

“How are you doing, economically?”

 "Do I even have to answer that?" Qrow said in annoyance.

Was Ozpin being serious? It should have been obvious considering the fact that Qrow had had to ask Ozpin for money to pay the damned rent. Of course he wasn't doing very well economically, he was just doing alright thanks to Ozpin's money. Otherwise they'd have been fucked by now.

“Let me rephrase, how are you doing workwise?”

Qrow grimaced, “Could be better. Haven’t had lots of time to deal with stuff.”

“I will require a full-time chemistry teacher soon.”

Qrow’s eyes widened, “What happened to the other guy?”

“It appears he used his chemistry skills for illegal activities,” Ozpin sighed and shook his head, “The police came and got him here at school. The students won’t stop talking about it.”

Qrow couldn’t help letting out a laugh. In a way he wasn’t very surprised, the guy had seemed a bit shady.

“Sounds like he got inspired from that TV-show, if he got caught doing what I think he did.”

“You are absolutely right,” Ozpin said with a strained smile on his face, obviously not all that happy about the kind of publicity it could get Beacon, “So, I’m in need of a new teacher. The sooner the better, honestly.”

"Well, sign me up," Qrow immedaitely said, he didn't even have to think about it, "I'd be an idiot to turn down a full-time job." 

He really had no reason to say no. A full-time job at Beacon would mean that he’d be able to provide for himself and the girls again without having to rely on an unsteady and unreliable income. And the routine would probably do him good because nowadays he spent too much time at home, and it was starting to make him feel caged.

Ozpin nodded slowly as he stared into Qrow’s eyes, almost making him want to look away. It felt as if Ozpin was trying to stare into the depths of his soul or read his mind.

“I just need to know that you’re ready for this, Qrow,” Ozpin seriously said and leaned forward, crossing his arms over his desk, “I do not expect you to be perfect, I _know_ that you haven’t been doing too well lately. So I need you to be honest with me and tell me if something becomes too much for you.”

Qrow tensed up and crossed his arms defensively over his chest, glaring at Ozpin.

“I’d never let anything affect the kids or my teaching,” he sharply said, “No matter what, I’d not fuck up that bad. Trust me on that one.”

It felt as if Ozpin stayed silent and observed him for an eternity before he finally smiled and leaned back in his office chair, grabbing his cane and tapping it lightly against the floor.

“I do trust you,” Ozpin assured, “I just do not want you to overwork yourself or bite off more than you can chew.”

“Hey, things are looking up lately,” Qrow said with a shrug, relaxing a bit, “Yang’s getting her new arm soon, Ruby is happier than ever and made a best friend, Jimmy’s been around helping out so –“ 

“Oh? James is still keeping in touch?”

“Yeah, well, he’s the one who got Yang that arm,” Qrow said, “And Ruby’s friend I mentioned? Penny, Jimmy’s daughter. So he’s been showing up quite a lot.”

Ozpin chuckled, “I see… that’s interesting.”

“What? How come?” Qrow asked and frowned, “What’s so interesting about it?”

“James just haven’t been the kind of person to form that kind of relationship with people. He’s been perfectly content spending all of his time with Penny… or working,” Ozpin mused with a thoughtful expression on his face, “You must really have caught his interest.”

If Qrow didn’t know better he would have suspected that Yang and Ozpin were in cahoots since both seemed to be adamant about talking so much about his relationship with James.

“Penny and Ruby hang out a lot, and he’s helping Yang,” Qrow said with a defensive edge to his voice, “Don’t see how that has anything to do with me.”

“At this point I’d suspect that James isn’t the one doing anything for Yang any longer, haven’t that been handed over to the specialists?” Ozpin asked and cocked his head to the side, “And he could also just leave Penny at your place and pick her up later… but you make it sound like he’s being around anyway.”

“What’s the fucking deal, Oz? So what if we happen to get along better than I thought we would?”

“Oh, nothing,” Ozpin smirked, “It’s just interesting. Actually, it makes me quite glad. You both seem happier.”

“You know him well?”

Ozpin nodded, “I'd say so. We do not see each other often, but he’s a good man.”

“You’ve not… you’ve not been talking about me with him, right?”

“Not anything private, Qrow,” Ozpin tapped the cane against the floor again and smiled, “Just like I won’t tell you anything private about James.”

“Damn. So no dirty secrets?”

Ozpin chuckled, “You won’t be hearing any from me, Qrow. You’ll have to ask him yourself if you’re interested.”

 

* * *

 

 

Later that night when Qrow lied in bed he should have felt relieved and relaxed. It shouldn't have been hard going to sleep. Yang had been to her first meeting with the specialists, and was beyond ecstatic. Qrow had managed to most likely land himself a full-time job at Beacon thanks to Ozpin (or rather thanks to the previous chem teacher deciding to cook meth).

He hadn’t had a full-time job for years, not since he had worked at Signal. And he was looking forward to going back to full-time teaching. Despite what a lot of people seemed to think, he did enjoy working with kids. They were usually quite fun, and he did enjoy making chemistry interesting for them all. Even if it had once or twice gotten him in a bit of trouble before for explosions. He hadn't been very popular with his boss when he managed to set off the fire alarm twice in a week.

But even though things were going well, he couldn’t fully relax because of the things Yang and Ozpin had mentioned. About how Qrow and James had gotten closer.

Qrow was aware of his own damned feelings, he just didn’t want to delve any deeper into it but it was hard when the people around him kept bringing up James all the time. There was no denying that it sometimes felt as if his heart skipped a beat whenever he saw James laugh or smile, and he got all nervous and fumbled whenever James was too close to him. Like the time just a couple of days ago when James had decided to help Qrow dry the dishes after they all had had dinner together. Qrow had actually dropped a plate when he brushed his hand against James’s.

It was starting to get a bit embarrassing and very hard to ignore.

_“Have some fun, ask him out! What’s the worst that can happen?”_

He groaned and turned around, pulling the blanket over his head. He could hear Yang’s voice echoing in his mind. What was the worst thing that could happen, really?

To be honest, Qrow could make quite a long list.

James could be absolutely disgusted and remove himself from Qrow’s life. That was something that wouldn’t only affect Qrow, but also his girls. It wasn’t likely, at least Qrow didn’t think so, but it was a worst case scenario.

Most likely James would just turn him down, he didn't seem like the kind of person who'd just walk out.

And maybe that was just exactly what Qrow needed. If he just heard James say no, then maybe he could let go of his hopeless crush and go back to just thinking of James as an annoying friend who worries too much.

With a sigh he fumbled for his phone in the dark and once he got a grip of it and started the screen he grimaced at the sudden bright light.

He couldn’t sleep and it was all James’s fault, so he might as well text him right away. 

 _[02:43 AM] Qrow:  
Jimmy, think you’ve got some time to talk in private?_

_[02:53 AM] Jimmy:  
Do you ever sleep? Is it emergent? I can call  you?_

_[02:54 AM] Qrow:  
_ _Couldn’t sleep. And nah, let’s talk in person._

 _[02:57 AM] James:  
_ _Friday around lunch? Or sooner?_

_[02:58 AM] Qrow:  
Sounds great, Jimmy. Gnight._

_[03:00 AM] Jimmy:_  
_James. And please get some sleep Qrow. I’ll see you on Friday.  
_ _Goodnight. :)_

Qrow dropped the phone and groaned. Once more with the emoticons. It made him feel giddy again, and he hated it.

James was going to be the death of him, and now he could just wait for Friday and hope that he'd finally be put out of his misery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Qrow got it so bad for James and everyone can see it. Well, except James, possibly.
> 
> Next chapter is pretty much done so tune in tomorrow for an update!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, we're already at chapter 10!? Not sure how that happened, but here we are!

“I hope nothing serious happened?” James asked in concern as he got his shoes off and entered Qrow’s living room where the other man already had taken a seat in the couch, looking very antsy, “Are you alright?”

And there it was again. The look of concern on James's face immediately got to Qrow, once more making him feel things that he'd like to bury. Considering that James had become quite a constant presence in his life, it was hard to avoid though.

"I'm fine," Qrow forced out after a while, even though it was a lie, "I... I wanted to ask you something. And not over the phone."

James frowned as he approached and sat down next to Qrow. It was a three seat couch but he was so close to Qrow that their legs were brushing together. It made Qrow's heart start racing again, both because of the proximity and because he was nervous. He hadn't been able to relax for days, not since he had texted James about having to talk.

“What is it?” 

“Why are you here?” Qrow bluntly asked, realizing a bit too late that he could have phrased it better. 

“I… excuse me?” James looked at Qrow in confusion, “Can you perhaps… elaborate?”

“Now you’re here because I asked you to come see me,” Qrow said and sighed in frustration, “But otherwise? Like, I get it, you were here because you wanted to make sure that Yang got the help she deserved and you could sympathize, but nothing forced you to come here after that. And sure, Ruby and Penny get along… but you could technically just drop the kid off instead of hanging around… And then you also show up on your free time, on your own, to check on me, but… _why_?”

Qrow studied James’s face, and he felt as if he had fucked up. He couldn’t get a good read on James, at first he had looked confused but now he looked quite blank. Probably because he was trying to process Qrow’s words.

“Are you saying you would prefer if I removed myself from your life?”

Qrow’s eyes widened and for a moment he actually felt scared. This was why he didn’t like serious talks or getting feelings for someone, he just fucked things up.

“No! Fuck, no, that’s not…” he trailed off and took a deep breath before continuing, he had to try and collect his thoughts to avoid making the situation worse, “I just asked you a question, James. You can’t just ask me a goddamned without first answering me!”

“It sounded quite accusing, but if you insist on me answering you…” James crossed his arms and frowned, “I did already tell you that I consider you a friend, and you are good company. What did this come from? Am I being too much? Because if that is so, just tell me, Qrow. We're adults. 

“That’s not it, Jimmy,” Qrow bitterly said and buried his face in his hands, wishing he just could spit it out, “God, I actually like having you around. And I usually _don’t_ like that. I don’t like letting people into my life like this, but you are here and you managed to get under my skin and I… I don’t know what to fucking do.”

James silently observed Qrow for a while and sighed. He was really trying to get a grasp on the situation, but Qrow didn’t exactly make sense. It was as if he was dancing around the main issue, and seeing Qrow so nervous was making James feel nervous as well.

“Please, what is it that you’re trying to say? Because you aren’t making much sense now.” 

“You just waltzed into my damned life with your stupid handsome face, being all nice and caring and fucking _perfect_ , and it’s pissing me off because it makes me feel ways I swore to myself to never feel again!” 

Qrow cursed as he got up from the couch and started to pace, just like the previous time he and James had talked in private. It was one of his nervous habits, but this time he had no alcohol to calm his nerves, it was just him and his damned feelings and James sitting there in the couch in silence.

And the silence was driving Qrow up the wall so he started talking again even though he knew that he hardly had any control over his emotions and could end up saying something he'd regret.

“At first I thought you were annoying because you kept pestering me, but of course you were right about the fucking prosthetic. I was being too damned stubborn, but you just decided to keep coming and then you won me over and you are so fucking good with kids! And then we've got Ruby who absolutely adores Penny and… And you kept making sure I wouldn’t keel over after I fucked up…” he trailed off, sounding more and more weak the longer he spoke, “You can’t do this to me, Jimmy. I can't do this.”

If James had looked confused before, it didn’t compare to how he looked now. For a while he just stared at Qrow, carefully assessing the situation. Qrow was an emotional mess and James wasn’t sure how to approach him. In the end he got up from the couch and slowly walked up to Qrow, but he was careful to not get too close since he didn’t want to distress him even more.

“I’m not entirely sure what it is that I’m doing to you, Qrow,” James cautiously said and frowned, “But I do not want to cause you any stress –“

“ _I_ am the one who is stressing myself out, I’m doing it to myself, and you… you _are_  doing some things but you aren’t even aware of it,” Qrow stared down at his shaking hands because he didn’t dare to look at James, “You’re making me _feel_ things, and it’s freaking me out. I tried to ignore it but I just can’t any longer. I can’t control my emotions around you and it's getting really tiring.”

James opened his mouth, taking a while before speaking, “You’re saying…”

“I’m saying that I’ve got a crush on you,” Qrow sounded exhausted as he finally admitted to it out loud, “And I didn’t mean for it to happen. I’m sorry, James, I didn’t want to screw things up. And I don’t want it to affect Ruby and Penny’s friendship, or Yang… and I… you…”

Qrow trailed off and took a deep shaky breath. God, he was shaking badly and he felt as if he wasn’t getting any oxygen into his lungs even though he was trying to focus on his breathing.

“Qrow, look at me,” James calmly said, “Look at me and _relax_.”

“I just need you to tell me something,” Qrow pleaded, finally daring to look up at James, “Just say that there’s no point in feeling like I do. Say that I have no chance, so we just can go back to normal. If you reject me now then _maybe_ I can let go of this stupid crush –“

“ _Qrow_ ,” James sharply said and firmly put his hands on Qrow’s shoulders, “Would you _please_ shut up for a while?”

They were really close to each other again since James had decided to step forward to try and make Qrow snap out of his ranting. And Qrow couldn’t bring himself to do much more than stare up at James’s face and nod, waiting for rejection.

“Are you sure you want me to say that you have no chance?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

James sighed and his grip on Qrow’s shoulders loosened. He brought his left hand to Qrow’s cheek and wiped away a tear with his thumb.

Qrow hadn’t even realized that he had cried a bit. He had been too stressed out to notice, but he wasn't too surprised considering how nervous and stressed out he had felt as he had waited for the day to come around.. And now James was so damned close to him again, and Qrow just wanted to lean into the touch. He could both hear and feel his own heartbeat throughout his body as he waited for James to speak.

But no answer came.

Instead Qrow was caught off guard as James decided to close the small distance between the two of them by gently putting his right hand on Qrow’s back and then pulling him in for a soft kiss.

Qrow was so surprised that he didn’t do anything more than just stand there stiff in shock, and thanks to that James soon pulled back since he didn't want to make Qrow feel uncomfortable.

But the kiss had ended way too soon, Qrow thought, he had just realized how soft and good James’s lips had felt against his own. But it was a bit too late to think about that since he hadn't put much effort into showing that he actually had enjoyed the kiss while it lasted. 

“I apologize,” James softly said, “I shouldn’t have done that without asking for permission.”

Qrow licked his lips briefly and stared up at James with wide eyes. It was probably good that James still had a steady hand against Qrow’s back, because his legs were suddenly going _very_ weak.

For a while Qrow wasn’t able to form any words or sentences in his mind. He was just stuck staring at James who looked really patient and a bit concerned, probably worried that the kiss had been a bit too forward.

“I didn’t really mind,” Qrow murmured once he had collected some of his thoughts, “So you…?”

He didn’t finish the question, but James understood.

“Yes,” he answered as he looked into Qrow’s eyes, “I’ve liked you for quite some time, too. I just thought it was too soon, or that you wouldn’t be interested… so I didn’t bother. I was quite content being your friend.”

“You’re not messing with me, are you?”

“Do I seem like the kind of person who’d do this as a prank?”

Qrow shook his head, still staring at James. Part of him felt giddy again, but the feeling didn't last long because soon he was filled with terror instead of giddiness. And James could see it in Qrow's eyes so he let go of him, allowing him to step back.

“Qrow…?”

“I swore to myself to never start feeling things for anyone ever again,” Qrow said, his voice wavering slightly as he took another step back and wrapped his arms around himself, “This is bad. You’ll get hurt, I’ll get hurt, the girls will get hurt and –“

“Qrow, there’s no need to panic,” James tried to soothingly say, but to Qrow there was a huge need to panic, “Let’s talk about it?” 

“I’m a mess, James, you don’t want to get closer to this than you already are,” Qrow let out a bitter laugh, “If you think the things you’ve seen here is a mess, then that’s _nothing_. I’m pretty much a high-functioning alcoholic, I’m paranoid, and I’m so damned stubborn that I fuck things up for both myself and others by refusing to admit that I’m in trouble. Two weeks ago I was about to be evicted because I couldn’t pay rent. You’ve not seen the really ugly parts of my life.” 

“What? You were getting evicted? Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Because I ain’t a goddamned charity case, alright?” Qrow snapped, “And because you already had helped enough. But that was why I wasn’t doing well, and why I collapsed. I was trying to keep my eating to a minimum so the girls could keep eating like normal. Didn’t want them to know how fucked we were –“ 

“So you figured it was a good idea to _starve_ yourself? What the hell did you think that would accomplish?!”

Qrow slumped down a bit. He already felt ashamed of himself for letting things go so far, and hearing James sound so upset just made him feel worse about it. Now he had certainly fucked up, but maybe it was for the best.

“What do you want me to say, James? I had no damned money, I was trying to buy us some time to figure things out,” Qrow argued, “I had about 10 Lien to my name the day I collapsed.”

James had to take a deep breath to try and calm himself down. He didn’t want to yell at Qrow. Yelling made nothing better, but he was really upset about it.

“What changed? You are obviously not out on the street… yet.”

“Oz,” Qrow muttered, “I swallowed my pride and crawled to Ozpin. Told him I had fucked up. He lent me money once before, and he did this time too. I did it for the girls. Since Yang’s accident I’ve hardly worked... Been too stressed.” 

“Do you have any work now?” 

Qrow nodded and leaned against the wall, “Soon. Ozpin needs a full-time chemistry teacher. I’ll start in a week or two, just gotta get the paperwork sorted out, and finish some old jobs I've been ignoring.” 

“Well, I’m glad,” James sighed, “It still doesn’t change things, though. So what if you are a mess? I can assure you that you aren’t the only one with baggage.”

“I ruin everything I touch, James. I couldn’t even protect Yang.”

“That’s more on me than it is on you, Qrow,” James had a solemn look on his face as he spoke, he still felt guilty about it even if none of them were to blame, “What is it that you are so afraid of?”

“That it won’t work out. It would have been easier if you just had rejected me,” Qrow murmured, "Everyone leaves in the end. If you don't have it to begin with, it hurts less." 

“It doesnt't have to end up like that. And we don’t have to rush into anything,” James assured, “And if you do not want to take this anywhere at all… then I’ll respect that. As said, I didn’t even think you had feelings for me.”

Qrow let out a breath he had been holding in for a while and closed his eyes. He was really scared. If James just had said no then they’d not be having this conversation, it had hopefully been over and Qrow could have focused on letting go. But now that he knew that James felt the same, things got too real. 

“I drink too much,” Qrow suddenly said, “I said that before, but I really mean it. I drink too much and too often. I sleep too little, I keep getting up in the middle of the night to check on the girls and to occasionally have a drink because I just can’t sleep otherwise. I overthink _everything_. I get angry and snappy over stupid things. I'm too stubborn for my own good. I'll get on your nerves.”

“And I’m known for getting involved in business that isn't my own,” James said, “And I have baggage that I haven’t told anyone about. I’ve done my fair share of really bad choices in life. Choices that sometimes have cost lives.”

Qrow’s eyes widened a bit, “Lives? How?”

“I was in the Atlesian army,” James heavily said, it was a part of his life he just wanted to forget since it had brought nothing but pain and misery to him and many others, “I was in control over most of the military. I was their general.”

“That’s how you lost your arm?” Qrow cautiously asked.

“It’s more than that, Qrow,” James said and smiled wryly as he unbuttoned a couple of buttons of his shirt, pulling some of the fabric to the side, showing where it all began, “My entire right side, including my leg.” 

“Shit,” Qrow pushed himself away from the wall and headed up towards James, his eyes set on the metal. He reached out to touch it but stopped just centimeters away and glanced up at James, “Can I?”

James nodded stiffly, “Sure.”

Qrow looked back down and carefully touched the scarred skin, trailing his fingers along the area where flesh met metal. It was a very strange feeling. Not bad, just something he wasn’t used to. He couldn't imagine what James had been through to have had such a huge part of his body repaired.

Now it suddenly made sense that James had so many contacts within Atlas. Not only had half of him been replaced with robotics, but he had also been a general. He must have had a lot of influence, and obviously he still had some.

“Huh… I thought you worded it a bit strange back then,” Qrow softly said and looked up at James, letting his hand linger for a wihle. 

“What?”

“You said you had had heavy reconstruction. Thought it sounded a bit extreme over just an arm.”

“Didn’t feel like talking about it,” James murmured, “It’s something I’d like to forget. We all have our demons, Qrow, but we don’t always have to face them alone.” 

“You say that now,” Qrow quietly said and removed his hand from James’s chest, averting his gaze to look down at the floor, “It’s easy to say shit like that when you’ve not seen how bad the demons are.”

James gently took a hold of Qrow’s chin and tilted his head up, more or less forcing him to look at James again.

“I’m willing to try,” he seriously said, “It takes a lot to scare me away, and by now you should know that you aren’t the only stubborn one here.”

Qrow still wasn't convinced that it was a good idea to get involved with James. It wasn't anything personal, it was just that none of Qrow's relationships had worked out. It had been easier to just ignore it and focus on the kids. But he hadn't expected someone to enter his life and turn everything around. Especially not one of the persons he really had disliked at one point. If someone had asked Qrow what he thought about James three months earlier, he'd have given them a long speech specifying why he disliked him. Today he mostly had good things to say about James. Even the things he once had considered bad, he now considered good.

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you," Qrow said and grabbed James's shirt, "And don't make me regret this."

"Is that a yes?" James asked with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah," Qrow put his head against James's metal shoulder, actually enjoying the cool metal against his way too hot face, "Let's try."

Qrow felt his heart flutter as James wrapped his arms around him. It did feel right, and as his mind slowly was going out of panic-mode he felt how exhausted he was. He had hardly slept for two nights since he had been so nervous about talking to James, and the conversation itself had been extremely emotionally draining.

"Tired?"

"Mmph," Qrow let out against James's chest.

"Why don't you take a nap and I'll make some lunch before I have to leave?"

"Or you can take a nap with me," Qrow said with a muffled voice, "Just for a while."

James chuckled, "I guess I do have time for a short nap."

"Great," Qrow started walking backwards, pulling James down into the couch with him, "Too far to the bed."

The couch wasn't the most comfortable, especially not when you were trying to share it with someone, but it would be good enough for a nap. The two of them shifted for a bit, eventually James ended up lying on his back with Qrow more or less draped over him.

"Comfortable?" James murmured as he ran a hand over Qrow's back, but he got no response because Qrow was already fast asleep against him. It was as if someone just had shut him down.

It didn't take many minutes before James also was starting to fall into slumber, a small smile on his face as he felt Qrow's warm breath against his skin.

He really hoped things would work out, because he could really get used to being so close to Qrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE SHIP IS SAILING, I REPEAT, THE SHIP IS SAILING.
> 
> Finally relationship progress!  
> I wanted some time to build up the world and characters and so on to not rush things. I /thought/ that they'd get together earlier, but I'm glad I didn't rush it. I don't think Qrow would have been in the right place for it earlier because he's been too worried about his girls and also been stressing about the economical situation. He didn't really have time to think about his feelings for James until after all that stress died down a bit.
> 
> Anyway, this story is FAR from over. Qrow's biggest demon hasn't even showed up yet, so they might be in for a wild ride. But well, nothing is set in stone with this story!
> 
> Thanks everyone for all the kudos and positive feedback, by the way! Glad so many of you enjoy this story! Hope I can keep things up!


End file.
